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!