Without my iPod..

Was hoping to be typically British and write about how lovely the sunshine has been and how I’ve been spending my time in it... and then it snowed. But I won’t let the cold weather perturb me.

Had to be out this morning for a haircut and there’s something incredibly unpleasant about sitting in front of the mirror at the hairdressers, particularly first thing in the morning. Although I’m a person who loves having my hair done, it did occur to me this morning that the hair-washing and drying experience is a little confusing. As I sat up from the basin and the hairdresser vigorously rubbed my hair with a towel, I couldn’t help but feel rather less like I was being pampered and rather more like my mum was drying my hair for me when I was a child – maybe it really was just too early and I was feeling a little sorry for myself.

My morning began in a rather brave and unusual way as I ventured into town without my iPod! It may not sound like much of a feat, but I’m quite attached (yet another obsession) and can’t usually imagine any journey without it. However a couple of weekends ago I inadvertently made the two-hour train journey to London without it! A missed train, an expired rail-card, topped off with the lack of iPod definitely made me wonder whether the world was trying to tell me not to go. In fact I almost turned around to go home because I just couldn’t imagine a silent journey – or worse still, a journey spent listening to other people’s conversations, general noises and, heaven forbid, the tinny beat coming through someone else’s iPod speakers! Pulled myself together however, and it was definitely worth it. No music meant that I actually had the opportunity to be productive for two hours, as fortunately (?) I had remembered a trusty maths text book and my notebook! There was even something strangely nice about not having music in my ears. On the odd occasion I will walk or sit somewhere without earphones in just for a bit of quiet or appreciation of everyday hustle and bustle, but it really is a rarity. Admittedly my ears were definitely still ringing from the night before, but I felt oddly calm, able to appreciate a stillness in myself that I very rarely notice because I’m usually too busy buzzing about!

Finally jumped on the bandwagon, http://instagram.com/brockwayl

I usually feel as though having my earphones in is a comfort and almost protects me from the outside world, but actually I quite liked having my wits about me today (I could hear the birds and my thoughts too!). I’m always going to be addicted to listening to music wherever I go, but I’m definitely going to make a point of making time to listen to everyday sounds too – I’m not sure I can ever turn off the music in my head though, still bopping my way along to nothingness (yes, I bop!). 

Snug and comfy-cosy

Wherever I am I love to be snug, comfy and cosy. It’s a known fact about me that I’m completely incapable of sitting normally on a chair. I have to be wrapped up in the strangest looking positions with my legs all tangled and sticking out at funny angles (or at the very least cross-legged). Almost anybody that witnesses me in these positions for the first time will make the comment, ‘surely that can’t be comfortable?’ – yet actually, I am most comfortable when in a knot.

Sitting in a knot is made possible by all-important comfortable attire and it was only the other day that I realised how much more wear I get out of my comfortable clothes this year. My music degree consisted of a maximum of 9 hours of lectures a week, so while the remaining hours may have been spent in pyjamas, clothes for a night out, or of course fancy dress outfits, there were very few occasions where I would be sitting down wearing ordinary clothes! However now that I am enrolled on a degree where I’m sitting through 8 hours of lectures a day instead, comfort is paramount (and knot-enabling leggings are just the thing)!

While comfort comes in the form of leggings, snug and cosy is provided by my trusty scarf and my vintage jumpers (all woolly, all over-sized and all from the 1980s), which I throw over the top of any outfit when the inevitable draught begins to waft through every lecture or workshop! 

http://www.goldfinchesvintage.co.uk/ http://www.absolutevintage.co.uk/ - the sources of my every vintage-jumper need!

I like to be surrounded by my favourite things wherever I am, so will rarely be seen without a ring, one of my favourite bags, my scarf and a jumper! However it is in my bedroom where my obsessions culminate, in a display which has naturally come to form part of the decoration in both my room at home and at university. The ring collection has pride on a shelf in a selection of glass dishes, bags are hung from every handle while necklaces hang from every bed knob and curtain pole, and my jumpers are always draped over the back of a chair or the end of my bed. It was only when I was tidying the other day for the arrival of a friend and went to put a jumper away in the wardrobe that I realised I actually much prefer them lying around. Of course I love to have easy access to them for instant comfort and warmth, but they’re actually really pretty too!