Home sweet home

Ok safe to say I'm sucking at this blogging lark, not written anything for ages. It's time to make an effort to start posting again.

I'm currently at home in Cornwall. After a mammoth train journey home yesterday I've spent most of the day lounging on the sofa watching the jubilee flotilla then a quick trip to the pub for a glass of rosé.

Here are some photos of my time in Cornwall so far-

Calstock viaduct in the middle of a torrential downpour when I arrived last night. The viaduct really is the iconic landmark of my village. Built at the start of the 20th Century when the mines were booming it connects the village to Plymouth.


Pretty pink and white flowers on the quayside.


Muscavey goose - there are loads of these living in the village.

Pirate boat on the quay.


Hope everyone else is enjoying this long weekend. I'm looking forward to relaxing with my family even if the weather is a bit rubbish.

Why I run

I've not been running recently. A few weeks ago when the sun came out I headed outside for some 'proper running', I regained my enthusiasm after a long winter mostly staying inside. I even managed to fit in a few runs when I was on holiday in the Isle of Man.

Then I came home, and got struck down by a terrible cold.

No really, it was bad. I hardly got out of bed over the Easter weekend. Then when I started to feel better I had to spend the weekend in college. By that point the enthusiasm had gone, I was tired in the mornings and it was wet and cold outside. This morning I finally got my act together and headed to the gym. I tend to just do 10 minute interval sessions on the treadmill but even that was pure torture. I was too hot, I felt like I couldn't get enough air in my lungs and my legs hurt.

So why do I feel more motivated to go running tonight than I did last night?

Exercise is a funny fickle thing. It's totally addictive but it's also incredibly easy to forget how addictive it is. If you don't go running for a while you quickly forget how good it feels when you've had a run. There is nothing that beats that post run feeling, where your muscles feel all warm and your body is pumping around the endorphins.

That good feeling is the reason I run. Most runs are not enjoyable, I often find my runs are uncomfortable at the start. Once I settle into a pace it's fine but then comes the mental struggle of keeping going, particularly at the end of a run. It's a constant battle between my mind and my body - one is always fighting the other during a run. Yet it's also time for myself, when I can de-stress and focus on something other than work or the massive pile of ironing threating to take over the house.  I like to run by myself, taking in the world around me and not having to think about anything except keeping my stride.

And there are certain things that make getting out of bed that bit earlier even more special. I have trouble sleeping in hotels and so took my running gear with me on holiday in order to run when I inevitably woke up far too early for breakfast. I was rewarded with getting to enjoy the most beautiful sunrise over Douglas bay:





If ever I forget why running is so completely awesome I need only look at these pictures to remember.

Springtime

Apologies for the lack of posts, I was on holiday last weekend and then had a mega busy week at work followed by feeling ill over the whole of this four day weekend. Not good at all. Despite feeling ill I felt that with it being Easter it's time to dress in some nice bright spring colours.


Top and cardigan via TK Maxx, skirt - Miss Selfridge, boots - Animal

Here is what I wore on Saturday. We didn't really do much and it was still pretty cold (we had snow on Wednesday morning) but I wanted to try wear something cheerful. I've had this skirt for a while but I always find it difficult to style as it has quite a bright pattern.




This cardigan and the yellow top seem to complement it well though. I wore my favourite Accessorise butterfly necklace as well. It's so pretty and I always get loads of compliments when I wear it.

(Can you tell I now have Instagram on my phone!)

Hope you like the outfit and are enjoying your Easter weekend. As soon as I get a chance I will post about my adventures on the Isle of Man.

Whirlwind

Apologies for the complete lack of posts recently, its been a bit of a crazy week! I ended up having to jump on a train to London on Thursday night. It was brilliant to see my brother for a flying visit but unfortunately I had to dash back up north for college on Saturday.

The weather in London was fantastic and I enjoyed a lovely walk along the Thames after my interview on Friday afternoon. I really enjoyed catching up with Jas and we ended up going to a fantastic Italian bakery, Princi which I highly recommend. It has an amazing long counter where you can pick out lots of lovely delights from freshly cooked pizza to delicious cakes to try, as well as, of course, a fantastic selection of breads.

Unfortunately I was so busy enjoying the food I didn't take any pictures but here are a few of the things I have taken pictures of recently.

Pretty blossom in York. It always seems to be glorious weather when I have to spend the weekend in college. I took these about two weeks ago when I'd finished my workshops on the Sunday afternoon. It was a perfect cool but sunny spring day and I was so tired I could have easily fallen asleep watching the blossom in the breeze but luckily Neil turned up to give me a lift home.

Speltotto - Neil and I have recently discovered that spelt makes an amazing alternative to rice. We are slightly obsessed with the River Cottage Veg Book at the moment and this is one of the fabulous recipes we have discovered - leek and kale make it nice and green, with a little bit of indulgence in the form of hard goats cheese (Drunken Goat is amazing!).

[Excuse our rather terrible cooker - it came with the house!]

Yarg cheese - the greatest cheese in the world. I was so happy when I saw my favourite Cornish cheese for sale in our local Morrisons I had to buy some.

Last week ended in a mad dash trip to London - the weather was so fantastic on Friday afternoon I walked along the river from London Bridge to Embankment and spotted this cormorant sunbathing.

A little bit of stargazing - the moon, Venus and Jupiter last night.

Finally, my gorgeous new Shape Up Sketchers. I was admiring Jess' pair the other day so when I spotted some yesterday I thought I would indulge - it was payday afterall. They are supposed to unbalance you as you walk so that you have to use your muscles more. I've held off buying shaping/toning shoes in the past as most styles look like orthopaedic shoes but these ones are actually pretty sleek. I have to say the thing I really love about these shoes is that they make my feet look small. I have size 8 feet which makes it hard to find anything nice in my size. These are a size 7 yet fit perfectly and look reasonably dainty (as far as trainers can).

I have no idea if they actually work but I figured I'd give them a go. I don't know whether it was down to last night's run but my legs were certainly aching today walking around Leeds during my lunch hour. I'm going to the Isle of Man this weekend which will probably involve a lot of walking so hopefully they will be comfortable for that, any toning up will be an added bonus.

So on Thursday I am off to the Isle of Man for archery fun. It's not the most glamorous location but the trip is alway a lot of fun. We go every year with a big group of ex-university archers to compete against the students in the student festival of sport. I'm sure I will be posting some pictures upon my return!

Wildfire

I've sort of fallen out with Twitter today. To be honest it's been building up for a little while. If you follow me  you may have noticed I get a little (ok, a lot) annoyed when people refer to the Health and Social Care Bill as the NHS Bill. The worst offender is the BBC.

Now you may think I'm being a bit up tight getting so annoyed about something that isn't that big a deal right?


It would be safe to say that I know more than average about the legal basis of the NHS. I certainly know more than average about the H&SC Bill.

I don't want to write about the rights and wrongs of this particular Bill (if you are interested I'm actually fairly neutral to it, the NHS gets re-organised on a pretty regular basis, I do consider it to be incredibly poorly drafted but then I've read every single version as it's been published). However, as the Bill gets ever closer to being passed, more and more agenda based articles about it are being retweeted all over the shop. Unfortunately I'm finding people I respect retweeting links to information which is quite frankly wrong. This annoys me because once something starts on Twitter it can become a runaway train, impossible to stop.

What really annoyed me today was a link to a blog relating to the Bill which contained information which I know is categorically not true (it relates to my work so I'm not going to go into detail). This isn't the first time I've seen these sorts of posts either. A few weeks ago a popular comedian tweeted a link to an opinion piece in the British Medical Journal.

Now that would appear to be a fairly reliable source, but note it was an opinion piece. The article referred to sections of the Bill out of context to further its own agenda. The article basically failed to take into account about half of the structure of the NHS thus creating a rather scary picture of the reforms. Whilst some of the points might have been valid I just couldn't get past the fact the authors had effectively concealed key information in order to further their own argument. Sadly the comedian and his hundreds of thousands of followers will never know this.

Both those tweets, and countless others have spread like wildfire across Twitter. Whilst for some it will be possible to work out what information is reliable and what isn't, for the majority it isn't so easy. In respect of the Bill, I can pretty much guarantee that 90% plus of those tweeting and writing articles about it are relying on secondhand information rather than analysing it themselves. I know this because I've studied that Bill and an easy read it is not (it's essentially a set of instructions on amending other Acts so unless you read them along side it it won't make a lot of sense). Put it another way, if the person writing about the Bill cannot get the name of it right, what does that say about their argument? That's why it's important.


What I'm really getting at is this: think before you retweet. I'm sure I have been guilty of simply retweeting without thinking in the past but following this Bill through Parliament and on Twitter has really opened my eyes to how fast false information can spread online. It is amazing how we have all become drawn into political points scoring on Twitter through these tweets which state opinion as fact, constantly retweeting without even thinking whether the statement is reliable. It's so easy to simply retweet a link to something that accords with you own view but be selective and think why you are making that retweet before hitting send. If possible do your own research and form your own opinion on a subject to tweet about rather than simply retweeting that of someone else.

(The irony of this post is not lost on me by the way - I've been feeling the need to write this for a long time, when you have spent a rather large proportion of the last year studying a piece of legislation it really begins to grate when your Twitter timeline gets filled up with it as well!)

Can Twitter further your career?

Although this blog is primarily about my life outside of work, you may have noticed I'm currently studying to become a solicitor. Last September I started the Legal Practice Course at the College of Law in York. For those not familiar with the legal profession this is the course which takes you from law graduate to potential solicitor. In order to qualify as a solicitor, LPC students are then required to complete a training contract in a law firm.

Unsurprisingly, finding a training contract has become significantly harder in the current economic climate, with many firms simply not taking on trainees.

Today I attended the Law Society's Junior Lawyers Division LPC Forum which was an event for LPC students looking at how to secure a training contract. Even though I'm a law student I have to say, before today I had no clue about the JLD or what they do. The day included a series of talks looking at things like CVs, assessment centres and competency based assessments as well as a networking event. I was slightly apprehensive at the start of the day but it was actually pretty fantastic. I came away feeling really motivated with some very useful information (if you'd like to know more about the day there is a post about the previous event on the JLD Blog).

The talk that really struck a chord with me was on social media. Even though I use numerous social media forums (surprisingly I was the only delegate that used Pinterest) I've never really considered how social media might help me progress my career (except in so far as trying to avoid 'career limiting' actions).

Without sounding too much like Stuart Baggs, this talk really got me thinking about 'Brand Me'.

Everything we put out into the ether on Twitter, Facebook etc is available to billions of people across the world. Whilst most people won't particularly pay attention, there's a fair chance that future employers will be interested in what you are putting out there. We were told about a person who was presented with a print out of their tweets at an interview.  I think it's safe to say I wasn't the only person in the room shocked by this prospect. I try to be careful about my tweets but even the most careful tweeter will never be able to avoid posting a comment that could be interpreted in the wrong way by someone. It's easy to forget that Twitter is such a public forum.

It's so easy to automatically think about these types of horror stories when it comes to social media but actually some sites such as Twitter and of course, Linked In (described by the speaker as "Facebook for work") can actually be an incredibly powerful tool to assist rather than hinder career progression. Twitter is particularly useful for networking and I am certainly going to try to use it more for this in the future.

Similarly blogging can be a really useful tool in creating an online 'brand'. Today's talk emphasised the need to have a purpose to a blog. Finding a niche, and having an opinion were also highlighted as vital factors. A blog can be a really good way for people to get to know more about you, as well as getting noticed in the first place. Starting this blog was inspired by a wide range of bloggers, many of whom have created successful careers out of their blogs.

In terms of my own blogging I've not really considered this. I've always considered it important to have a niche but while I'm getting started actually writing (and improving my writing) is what matters. My natural inclination had been to keep my blog more mainstream but in doing that I can't help thinking I'm missing a trick. A major part of my life is studying and practising law and it wouldn't be fair to neglect this in my writing, I'd not really considered this blog as a outlet for expressing my opinions on anything particularly meaty but I'd like to explore this. It really feels like now is the time to up my game and focus on what I'm putting out into the world.

I want the content of my blog as well as my wider use of social media to be interesting. To do that I need to post about the things I'm passionate about. A lot of this will still be subjects such as food, fashion and fitness, but there might occassionally be a post on other subjects (like this one!)


Interestingly when I told the speaker the name of this blog, he asked me whether it was a political statement - this had never even crossed my mind (for the avoidance of doubt, it's not). It worries me that people might think it is - I might have to think of a new name.

Good feelin' about it

I don't often have to look ultra smart for work. However today I had a meeting with one of our clients. My general policy is meeting with a client = wear a suit.

So that's what I did.



Jacket - Next

I thought it would be the perfect excuse to show off my gorgeous new dress. Warehouse in Leeds is currently having a massive sale so I popped in at the end of a very long (and productive) shopping trip last Saturday on route to the station. I was at that point where my arms felt like they were about to drop off but I'm glad I did because hidden amongst the masses of the size 6 and 8 stuff I found this absolutely amazing dress IN MY SIZE! Yes really (I've never worked out why sales always seem to have everything but my size - even when I was alot bigger than I am now I had the same problem, it seems that whatever size I am it's always the one that's not in stock). However, the best thing was the price, originally this dress had been on sale for £65, I paid £15 - an absolute steal.


Dress - Warehouse, Belt and Shoes - New Look, Necklace - George

I have to say, I'm in love, I'm been looking for a dress like this for what seems like forever and this one is perfect. I reckon it would be great dressed up for an evening out.

I added a skinny leather belt and a red necklace to finish the look. I quite often wear bold necklaces for work and bought this cute red stone one yonks ago in ASDA.



I felt pretty sleek this morning in this outfit - until I managed to catch my heel getting onto the train. Whoops! Luckily the only thing injured was my pride.

What do you think of this look? How would you style this dress differently?