Thought For Friday!

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Happy Friday!

Love it when one of the kids at school tells me that they appreciate everything that I do for them.

Somehow makes it all seem worth it.

Book Review: MWF seeks BFF, By Rachel Bertsche.

MWF seeks BFF is a real life story, based on Rachel’s search for  new best friend that she could call on at the last minute for Sunday brunch, or to discuss the latest celebrity gossip. She takes it upon herself, after moving to Chicago, to go on 52 ‘friend dates’, one every week for the next year – andso the adventure of a lifetime begins.

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What I liked:

I read this book after seeing it mentioned on a blog post on making friends – it was recommended (and this is definitely the case) because it was full of ideas for how to meet new people and make potential BFFs.

I have a Psychology degree (Have I ever even mentioned that on here before?!) and I love reading snippets of studies about people and the ways that we interact. Well, this book was full of them! Little notes on social interation, why strong friendsihips are important and how we form relationships.

The shop chapters and extracts about individual ‘friend dates’ made this an easy book for me to read on working days, where I often find myself with only 10 spare minutes.

What I didn’t like:

At times, I felt it dragged a little.

I think the basic idea – of 52 friend dates – could make for a very good novel, and although the psychological aspect was one of my favourite parts of the book, I feel they ruined the story telling slightly.

Overall, I’d give it a 5/10 – not great, but well worth a read to give you that little extra motivation to put yourself out there and make some new friends!

Thought For Friday.

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Happy Friday!

20.11.12

Blog friends, I have a dilemma!

Every year at school, we do a Secret Santa amongst the staff. Last week, I missed the staff meeting where the names were picked, and there was only 1 left for me.

When I unfolded the lime green name tag, it had my name on!!

(Seriously, how awkward!)

So my question is this – Do I come clean to the person organising the game and ask to swap with somebody, so it’s not a secret anymore, or do I just keep schtum and buy myself a present and act surprised?!

Seriously, what are the odds of picking your own name?!! 😦

Liebster Award

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be nominated for the Liebster Award by the lovely Delightfully Awkward Brit!

The award is designed to advertise and show support to your favourite small blogs (those with 200 followers or less).

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I am going to cheat a little, because I have written a post similar to this before (check it out here and here) but am going to answer Brit’s questions anyway as it’s a fun way for us all to get to know eachother a little better!

1. What are you listening to right now? I have Ben Howard on repeat – I love him even more than before after his concert last week!
2. Cats or dogs- and why? Dogs, because why have a cat when you could have a dog?!
3. Favorite season? Oooh tough one. I love the Summer, and I love the Spring because it means Summer is coming. Autumn is also pretty spectacula wth the changing trees etc – they’re all good!
4. If you could get paid to do anything- I mean, anything– for the rest of your life, what would you choose? Oooh I don’t know! I’d love to travel, I’d love to work with young people, I’d love to feel like I was making a difference – can you combine all of those things in to a dream job for me?!
5. Why did you choose the blog name you did? I kind of made it up on a whim one day – It represents food, fitness and fun, which at the time were what I wanted to base my blog on – but I have taken a change of direction and have recently been considering a name change to match the content.
6. What is the best vacation you have ever been on? Do my 2 Eurotrip travelling stints count? If not, when I was about 13 I went to South Africa with ym Mum and bro over Christmas – it was incredible, and the first time I got a taste of real travel.
7. Is there anything special you are hoping to get for this upcoming Christmas? Not really, I am just looking forwasrd to spending the time catching up with friends and family – time to do that seems to have become a real privilege lately.
8. If you could only buy clothes from one store for the rest of your life, which store would it be? Ummmm Fat Face? White Stuff? Gap? H&M? Dorothy Perkins? Eeeek, it’s too hard to choose!
9. What’s one item on your bucket list? Visit Canada.
10. What’s your favorite color? I like the brown and turquoise combo!
11. If you were a super hero, what special power would you want? Definitely to be able to fly!

Now it’s your turn, choose a question and answer in the comments 🙂

Thought For Friday

Happy Friday!

Mid Month Goal Review.

So, this month I challenged myself to:

* Read 3 books – I need to get on with this one! I am about half way through MWF seeks BFF – I’m enjoying it but am struggling to find the time to read among all the other pressures of day-today life!

* Watch 2 of IMDb’s Top 250 movies – Again, I need to get on with this one. I have acquired the dvds, now I just need to find a few hours to watch them!

* Donate Blood – My appointment is next week, so watch this space.

* Put together a good package for my BFFs birthday – I have some ideas…

* Go on a Photography Day in London – Completed!

So all in all, I’m not off to a bad start but need to pick up the pace for the second half of the month!

What were your goals for November? How are you getting on?

❤

Sophie

 

Book Review: The Fault In Our Stars, By John Green

I finally gave in and purchased The Fault In Our Stars after reading blogs going on and on and on about it for months now (you know who you are!), but I am so glad that I did!

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The book tells the story of Hazel Grace, suffering from terminal cancer, and her relationship with Augustus, who she meets at a support group.

What I loved:

* John Green’s writing style is just incredible. I rarely read a book where I read a line, and a few hours later the quote pops up in my mind in a moment of appreciation, but in this case it happened repeatedly.

* The book tackles important but somehow taboo issues so well. Teenagers suffering from terminal cancer is not something that anybody wants to think about, but we cannot ignore that it happens. Green has obviously researched this in depth, and the use of information was spot on.

* It was so refreshing to read a teenage love story that hadn’t been taken over by cheesy attitudes, or over sexualised as so often happens in the 21st century. I thought the relationship between Augustus and Hazel developed really well, and was a very realistic telling of how sometimes you can’t help how you meet important people or how your lives become completely dependent on one another.

What I didn’t like quite so much:

* I’m not too keen on the name Hazel – that is genuinely the only bad thing that I have to say about this!

Some favourite quotes:

So clever…

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And my favourite line in a book ever!

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If you haven’t read this one yet, I highly recommend it! 11/10 from me 🙂

❤

Sophie

#95: Go To Church.

Completed on Friday 09/11/12.

A friend of mine at work and I went to the Remembrance service at the school chapel the other day. It was actually quite nice, and I am considering making it a regular thing.