Author feature: Alexandra Potter

I love a good, thick book.

My motto used to be the thicker the better (though this seems to be the current motto for every girl on insta too) because well logically, I was getting the most for my money. I'd spend a longer time enjoying the book and reading its content hence, I wouldn't need to buy a new book too soon. I'm a pretty fast reader so unlike my sister, a book with a couple hundred pages excited me, rather than made me wanna bury my head in my palms for the foreseeable future.

However, sometimes it's a different story, especially in the summer. With the sun looking so inviting, I usually fancy reading outside but while the air is fresher and the sun keeps you warm and toasty, distractions are inevitable. I don't mind it to be fair, there's always going to be people about, laughter, conversations, music, even maybe traffic just seeping into your consciousness. It comes with the territory doesn't it and I love it, the bustle outdoors makes it feel like summer all the more. This is usually why I prefer picking light, easy breezy, summer reads to bring along. Something that doesn't require my full concentration and isn't too heavy to absorb. I want a relaxing time not a headache. Usually, I tend to grab Romance/Chick flick reads to be specific (because who doesn't love a good light hearted romcom??). 

Parklife 2019

Right, I'm pretty new to the festival scene I'd say. I went to my first festival last year; Good Vibes Festival in KL and since I couldn't make it to GVF this year, when my pal said "we're going to parklike" I went "ok". I didn't think it would be too different but boyyyyy was I wrong. My outfit was very much in sync with last years trend of stars I'll say. The trousers and earrings were from nasty gal, the "bralette" (which is really just a bikini top) is from H&M and the mesh top from Shein. For my accessories, I wore a chunky gold necklace and white chunky platform sneakers from Asos and my sunnies from Urban. RIP my cute white shoes is all I have to say.

I was really excited for two acts in particular; Lauv & Khalid. I've been listening to Lauv for years and they especially bring back the "good" memories of my first year of uni, me sitting alone on the bus with The Other and I Like Me Better blasting in my ears, adding to my forlorn mood as I leave the library at 2am again during exam season. Basically, Lauv is a staple in my chill playlist and I couldn't wait to see him live. Khalid's in the same playlist and let's be real, he's amazing so I knew he'd be great to watch perform. The weekend tickets were sold out when we randomly decided to go so we got a Sunday ticket which meant, we got to see Migos, Stefflon Don, Pusha-T, George ezra (!!) etc. 

Monthly Roundup: April

Source: Lightbox St Andrews

April was a pretty great month. The sun's been gracing us with her presence more often which means I've spent quite few days out of my house. There were a couple big events this month. The first being the fashion show I'm apart of coming to life. It was such an exhausting week of prep leading up to it considering I was juggling writing an important research proposal for my developmental psychology module. I wanted to hand in a decent proposal but obviously didn't want to steer from my duties in the Front of House team for the fashion show. Somehow, managed it and while I haven't received migrates yet for the proposal, I can safely say the show went off without a hitch. I mean sorta anyways. There was a small breakdown in which my response to a friend asking "How are you?" led to me crying because I managed to lose a tiny remote for our LED feature furniture. Found it in the end and also we found out we could turn on the LED seats without the remote, so the crisis was eventually averted.

Other than that, I had a grand time. I was so impressed by the selection of designers and clothing the fashion team managed to source and find sponsors for. Such creative looks from all over the world, including Indian and Japanese designers as well as brands from London creatives. I was excited that my flatmates made it even though they had a rough night out the previous night so thanks for the effort team, appreciate it more than you know. We spent the evening drinking shots form the ice luge, surprisingly making a bid and winning a prise in the auction, dancing away and wincing in our heels (well their heels, I wore brand new white platforms which were a mistake to a wear to a marquee set up in the middle of a muddy field). It was a brilliant night and it was just so good to see everything come together. You're not always aware about what's happening behind the scenes with other teams and committee members and then suddenly in one day, everything comes together and it's her to believe a bunch of students put on this show and raised a substantial amount of money for charity.

Mostly Roundup: March

March went by quick didn't it!

Began with my flatmate's 21st birthday dinner in our flat which was a lovely time. I am going to miss the flat dinners we have, pushing together our massive dinning table and kitchen table and squeezing 17 of our close pals around it for a night of food and laughter. Prepping the food usually is the most stressful part but Robyn's lovely parents sorted that for her so it went by smoothly. My boy's birthday was the day after which we had a chilled day of dinner and movies because his friend from home was up to and also I think everyone was trying to save themselves for Oktoberfest the next day.

Our uni has our own version of it in March which I appreciate the choice of a warmer month. Everyone get's dolls dup in lederhosen and dirndls and start "brunch pres" at about 10am before we're all shuttled to the venue. Funnily enough, I had a science fair that morning to participate in so it was not fun being stuck in the stuffy physics building when you're well aware form snapchat everyones already begun the festivities. After my shift, I did rush home for a quick outfit change and set off to join everyone else. The entire day basically consisted of chugging pints of beer, laughing and chatting in an improvised beer hall and dancing away to german music. It was brilliant, a nice step up from the usual balls and the best part was I could wear sneakers all day. We stayed drinking till about 7pm before we called it a day and decided to treat ourselves to a massive indian dinner which hit the spot perfectly. One of those days, you technically had a "night out" yet I was in my pyjamas, fluffy socks and tucked up in bed by 10pm. This should honestly be more of a thing, party early so we all still get sought after 8 hours of sleep.

Digital Declutter

With the sunshine comes the first wave of spring cleaning. Finally, it feels about time to hit the reset button and do a bit of tidying up in your life. While it's obvious that the important thing that needs sprucing and cleaning out is probably your home, your bedroom, your wardrobe etc., I do think in such a digital age, it's super important to declutter your online life too.

Most spring cleaning would involve donating old clothes and throwing out furniture and homeware that no longer "sparks joy" (I praise the Marie Kondo method so much, definitely watch at least one episode of her Netflix series to get the gist). However, I feel that decluttering our phones, computers and overall electronics is a good way to get organise and gain a little piece of mind too. So, I'm going to share my top 5 pointers to start tidying up your digital life. 

1) Social Media Cleanse 

I think the first thing to deal with is the social media apps and platforms you spend most of your time on, i.e. Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, Blogger (& whatever else your heart desires). Start by unfollowing the accounts and people that you no longer relate to or whose content does not bring you joy (this phrase may seem cringey but its helpful to think about). Honestly, social media can be a exhausting environment on ones self esteem and you shouldn't leave instagram or twitter feeling rubbish about how you look or what you say. Remove all the negative influences in your online stuff, whether its people promoting those awful diet pills or teas or just hateful accounts in general. These may even be your "friends", there's no need to be constantly aware of the lives of people you no longer click with or frankly no longer care about. Additionally, go through your saved folders on Instagram and organise the pictures. I have categories for makeup looks, fashion and travel inspo, recipes I want to try and at the moment a folder dedicated to bangs because I am toying with the idea of a good snip to the fringe (I will reiterate the word toying so my flatmate doesn't throw me an intervention). You could do the same for snapchat memories and actually save pictures and videos that are important to you or make you laugh. God forbid the day the app crashes and you lose 2 years of magical memories, this is a genuine fear of mine.

Albufeira, Portugal!

 

Spring break diaries consisted of last-minute orders and arrangements for the charity fashion show, stress-writing my social psychology essay (which thinking back now I wish I did a better job) and bidding my time until I was lazing on a beach in Portugal.

Iain and I booked this trip well in advanced we almost forgot we did it. Well he did, I could not wait to get out of our lovely little town for a while and head straight for warmer temperatures. Read a tweet the other day of something along the lines of "the only way to get through life is to always have a holiday booked to look forward to", could not agree more hun. We decided to head to the Algarve, Albufeira in particular for some sunshine and beaches and cheap drinks. Apparently, Albufeira gets about 30 days of rain a year (don't quote me on that) which makes it the perfect holiday destination and brilliant for tourism but not so great for the agriculture sector. We stayed at a lovely 5-star hotel called the Grande Real Santa Eulalia Resort & Hotel Spa (a bloody mouthful and honestly not the easiest to convey to taxi drivers), because we booked early we got an amazing all-inclusive deal for our flights, hotel room and a massive buffet breakfast every morning. It was such a steal!

Spa Day!

For Iain's birthday, I wanted to treat him to something a little special. Odd fact, for some reason he did a course on massages, no idea why but it has benefited me immensely. Unfortunately, my hands are not as well-trained as his so the massages he gets in return probably does anything but relax him. So, I figured a nice birthday present idea would be to treat him to his first proper spa day, including a facial and massage Had a wee look through itison.com and found some vouchers for exactly that at The Coach House in Kinross. It was a bit of a drive for St. Andrews, and I figured he'd rather have some company instead of having a spa day by himself. Just unselfish me wanting to keep him company at the spa, totally not after a massage myself of course just me being a usual saint. 

It was this huge estate that turned its guest house into a spa and hotel. The main estate (first pic) is still owned by the family who visits time to time but it's mainly now being rented out for big events, weddings and that sort of thing. When we first arrived, we were given robes, towels and flip flops  and immediately treated to an hour in the hydrotherapy pool and sauna. That pool was amazingggg, the jets were never switched off for longer than a second to ensure a constant stream of bubbles. We didn't spend too long in the sauna because the heat and humidity was actually insane, I much rather relax in the pool anyways.