Welcome, 2015

It's been a long time since my last post; I must have got lost somewhere amongst the madness that is the month of December!

While part of me is convinced that all events that occured would totally fit into one post, the other (more sensible and logical) part says 'move on, Laura'... so, whizzing past a Selfridges cinema experience (Paddington was AMAZING), decorating the Christmas tree (and the rest of the flat), a concert in Boughton not Broughton, carol singing on a floating jetty at St Katharine Docks, Christmas Jumper Day, elbowing our way through throngs of tourists to that infamous ice slide at Winter Wonderland where we also drank yummy hot Rekorderlig, take-away afternoon tea and Christmas trees galore at Columbia Road Flower Market, 'merryment' at St Martin-in-the-Fields, the school nativity, tending the bar at the City Chamber Choir concert, and finally heading home for Christmas where we'll pretend everything calmed down before this list burns a hole in the page!

Home was glorious as always - just look at beautiful Norfolk!

So we reach that time again, a new year has begun! After a party torn between adulthood and our teens to see it in, we have just returned from a bracing walk along the canal and finally, the world has come to rest, just for the remainder of today but it's enough.

People keep asking me what my new year's resolutions are, but unlike last year (and I think even the year before), I have a much less clear idea than usual. I think maybe because as 2014 drew to a close, I felt more content than I have done in a long time; those small fragments of life forever floating around without a true sense of where to go have finally found direction!

'Do more of the same' would be far too boring for me though, so this post may rest a while to give me time to formulate a plan!

I have embarked on Dry January again with a view to keep going until March (having succeeded last year, I dare to actually go public with my intention this year; too much confidence?), but I'm not sure that can constitute any sort of 'resolution', particularly as it won't last the full length of 2015 (the summer of 2014 taught me that)!

With a little time passed, I hope I have decided on three achievable resolutions for this year...

1. Read!

I'm preferably a writer, not a reader. But I love to lose myself in a book when the mood takes me, and with a lack of internet connection on my laptop preventing me from losing myself in iPlayer or Netflix instead, now is the perfect opportunity to set the ball rolling (and a book even awaits me on the pillow beside me for when I've finished writing)!

2. Look after myself. Rest.

This is something I've always prided myself in being good at, but I seem to have let it slip again this academic year, resulting in a 12-week-long cold. Finally rid of it, I'm determined to keep illness and fatigue at bay... wish me luck and expect far too many cat posts thanks to more weekends spent at home.

3. Set goals for money saving.

I'm ashamed to have two resolutions that I'm almost entirely sure I've had before, but I hope I've at least re-phrased them? I am and always will be a lover of spending, but I really need to prioritise where my money goes. Having had a wardrobe clearout at the weekend, clothes shopping is a looming temptation, but instead a new bed is top of my list, which I figure links nicely to resolution number 2? Already got my Sleep Tea for Christmas, now I just need somewhere as comfortable as my bed at home to lay my weary head!

I'm really very excited for 2015 because I came out of 2014 so happy and feeling very accomplished (not entirely sure why, but hey, I'll go with it) and I can only imagine that much more of the same is in store! 2015, let's do this!

Holding me to account

One of the wonderful perks of blog-writing is the element of accountability (a word which when in the context of work makes me shudder with mixed feelings of disdain and fear) in that once I have shared my ambitions, hopes and desires (ok realistically just ramblings, but I'd like to think there's something behind them some of the time!), they are out there for people to see, and that very fact gives me motivation a-plenty to make sure I actually make things happen!

Another perk of blog-writing is that if I haven't written in a while, I have to go and do something exciting! Forever keeping myself busy, the only problem is that in recent times I seem to have forgotten the art of 'fun for free', and since living in London (not entirely (at all) true, I was heading in this direction in my final year of Norwich!) I seem to be living far beyond my means (and dragging others down with me... I mean, who wants to socialise alone?).

I just LOVE to spend money. I love to eat, to drink, to go to concerts and gigs, to visit exhibitions and attend themed parties, to wear new clothes and new shoes, to holiday and to be impulsive. But come November, I will be officially renting my flat alone, and I'm currently having a slight (ENORMOUS) melt-down at the thought of having to budget, cut back, slow down and worst of all, plan my spending in advance... WHAT IS THAT!? So, I am scribbling down my money ponderings in the hope that I will work out what to do, while at the same time sharing my burden with you, dear readers (that's a first...) as I'm sure that exposing my lack of ability to save money will absolutely motivate me to change my ways (if the thought of being forced to move home and commute isn't enough; mum isn't keen on me wasting my inheritance on survival, I think she has higher hopes for its eventual use)! I'm hoping it's a topic that others might be able to relate to? ... please someone make me feel better!

Today I sat down and actually had a little look at my bank account. While this is usually a terrifying experience as I never have as much money as I think I do, I got less of a nasty shock today as it seems that in my worrying about money, I have clearly just stopped using it wherever possible. Over the summer, funds ran remarkably low (I guess when my week usually consists of a return journey to work and a weekend splurge, my purse didn't handle daily splurging so well), and ever since I have been overly cautious with spending.

Nevertheless, I made it through the summer, and here we are in October, second pay-cheque of the academic year in, and I am surviving. So why the panic? Well I guess even after a year of residing in London, I can't get over the cost of living. I'm forever feeling like there must be a cheaper way! I would love, at some point, to save some money!? You might even say I'm feeling a little more grown up as I go into my second year and at this point want nothing more than to start working towards the own-home-goal (never in London, obviously, before I get laughed at too much)!

Theory is, if I want it enough then the expenditure adjustments won't seem so horrible. However given my wanting to weep every time I think of the contrast between my in and out-goings, I do wonder whether I'm going to cope at all well. Because, of course, my best method for cheering myself up is to go and spend in excess... gone is that boost.

So, expect future blog posts full either of strife and struggle, or thrilling tales of my weekends and holidays spent not spending. I have NO idea where this is going to go, but wish me luck!

My name is Laura Brockway and I am addicted to shopping (then posting pictures of my purchases on Social Media sites).

Vintage, children's books, wine & Tom Ford. Pay packet spent in a matter of hours.