The Land of Laura

So, in classic Laura fashion, as soon as the January sales hit I spent way too much money buying things I definitely did not need! (You'll have to forgive my lack of photography skills, I haven't quite grasped the concept of flat-lays yet!)


Select

From Select I managed to pick up some absolute bargains, as well as some beautiful things that weren't in the sale.
 Skirt - £10 (in the sale)
Tops - £3 each! (in the sale)


 Bag - £3.99 (in the sale) - I've been after a small going out bag for ages, so when I saw this one which was exactly what I was looking for, i had to get it!

 Urban Decay

I can't remember how much these both were, all i remember is that they were far too much money on something i definitely didn't need, but that's what happens when Ross leaves me unassisted at the Urban Decay counter! Despite the price, i am so glad I brought them - they're amazing!


One of my New Years resolutions was to make sure i read more, since i love reading and didn't make anywhere near enough time for it last year! I haven't managed to read any yet since I'm finishing the Girl on The Train, but as soon as I do, i'll be sure to give you a review!

So that's it, everything i brought in the January Sales! Since I'm a student and I'm now very poor, you probably won't see another one for a while, but i hope you enjoyed it!

TTFN,

Laura xoxo

As I sit here staring at my laptop screen, for the 12th hour today, I have to wonder if it is all worth it.

With my exams and assignments due this week, I have spent so much time engrossed in my laptop, to the point where I now have a constant headache. What makes it worse though is that, I feel as though I have complete forgotten how to switch off. As I lay in bed thinking about it, I began to wonder if its not just me and that maybe as a society we have forgotten how to 'switch off'.

I made a new years resolution to put down my phone and read before bed. Shutting down my laptop, putting my PJ's on, getting under my duvet and going straight on my phone does not count as going to bed, i'd close my laptop at 11pm and my eyes a 4am, it was ridiculous. Of course, I don't know why I am talking in past tense, because its only the 11th day of the new year and already I have failed (hence, why I am writing this at 5am). I've been wondering why I have been feeling so rubbish about myself recently and then it clicked, my brain has been completely lacking in any sort of meaningful stimulation. Of course of been revising and essay writing, but this isn't something interesting to me (those who say it does, is lying). I need creativity, escapism, and something that doesn't make my brain want to explode, and currently, I don't get any of those things from a laptop. 2 days, that's how long it normally takes me to read an average size book. Yet, I got The Girl on the Train for Christmas and i'm not even half way through it - even though i'm thoroughly enjoying it! How did I get like this?

I'm sitting here writing this, watching the clock tick closer and closer to the time my alarm is set to go off - 8:30am. I've promised myself tomorrow will be productive, and i'll take it easy and have a chill day before my exam on Thursday so that my brain is at its prime for the big day. But will that happen? Of course not, i'll be surprised if I sleep at all tomorrow night to be honest. My biggest problem around exam time is that I need to learn that what will be, will be. Whatever I don't know at midnight before the exam i'm never going to, so I should probably shut the laptop down, read for a bit to wind my brain down and get a good nights sleep - yeah, right!

Switch the screen off, enjoy the real world!

Laura xoxo

I was tagged by my gorgeous best friend Jess to do the '13 Personal Questions Tag', and as i knew she'd moan if i didn't do it, and i wanted a reason to get back into blogging anyway, here it is !

1) What do your order at Starbucks?
     I'm not a Starbucks girl, probably because i don't like hot drinks (hold your fire)! The did do a marshmallow smores drink a few months ago which i was addicted to, but then they got rid of it so i've royally fallen out with them now!

2) What is one thing in your wardrobe you can't live without?
     My black high waist skinny jeans. They're super comfy and go with everything!

3) What is one thing most people don't know about you?
     I'm really a very open person, so this question is difficult for me. One thing i don't think i've ever talked about on my blog is my absolute love and deep rooted obsession with Ed Sheeran!

4) What is one thing you want to do before you die?
     I'm going to cheat and say two things; get married and visit New York! I have plans to hopefully visit New York next year, the other one is out of my hands unfortunately (hint, hint)!

5) What is one food you cant live without?
     Sweet potatoes! Whether or not a restaurant serves sweet potato fries is how i decide where to go to eat! They are sooooooo yummy!

6) What is one quote you live your life by?
     "Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game" (name the film!)
As much as I try to follow this I know I don't always, but its nice to have a little guide to try and follow in your time of need.

7) What do you like/dislike about the Youtube/Blogging community?
I like how easy it is to connect with people all around the world! I think there is enough negativity in the YouTube community so I'm not even going to go into that!

8) What is your number one song on Spotify?
    I changed the question slightly since i don't have iTunes! My number one song on Spotify is currently Shape of You - Ed Sheeran! (i told you i was obsessed!) It's just so upbeat and so different to anything he has ever released before!

9) What kind of style would you describe yourself as having?
    Fairly casual, unless I'm going out for dinner or something and then i love getting proper dolled up!

10) Favourite Number?
      21 - my age!

11) Two Hobbies?
      I play the cornet (although not so much since coming to university), and i love to read, i'm currently reading the Girl on the Train which i am loving!

12) Two Pet Peeves?
     Poor customer service and people that talk unnecessarily! Having worked in customer service, it is not hard to be polite and give your full attention to the customer (as long as their polite to you too of course). With people talking unnecessarily I mean people that talk for the sake of it, when they ramble with nothing really to say just for the sake it! I'll admit i talk a lot but i like to think it is always in decent conversation, not silly rambles!

13) Your guilty pleasure?
    The twilight movies, I'm not sure why these are 'guilty' but they were the first thing that popped into my mind when i read the question!


So their you have it! I tag all those of you who have always though about starting a blog but have never done it, since this is a great place to start! Thanks to Jess for the tag, you can out check her blog
HERE.

Get Scribbling,

Laura xoxo

Everyone has a dream. You know, that thing you long for more than anything, the one thing you know will make you the happiest you've ever been? We all have them, all different, some bigger than others, some more obscure than others. Whatever the dream, we all want to achieve them. From reading this you probably have your biggest dream in the forefront of your mind, so let me tell you mine.

New York. Cliché I know but nothing makes me happier than the prospect of one day living in the Big Apple. I say nothing makes me happier, although at the same time the idea makes me so incredibly sad. Without sounding too over dramatic, I cannot hear about friends trips to New York, or see TV shows with beautifully panning shots of the New York city skyline without feeling a slight twinge of sadness. As much as I'd like to believe my dream is realistic, when I see these things, I can't help but think that perhaps my dream is just a bit too big. Doubting myself is one of my biggest flaws, so when it comes to potentially moving to New York it is not surprising that I doubt my ability to do it.

I have a lot of dreams and ideas, and I realised that now I am 20 I need to start working towards pursuing them. Not because I'm scared that I am getting old or anything dramatic like that, I just have so many that if I don't start now I couldn't possibly ever accomplish them all. Which brings me to my point. I want to use this blog to document my journey towards reaching some of these dreams through a blog series. While I haven't got all the logistics of this series worked out I want to make it a fairly regular things, potentially monthly. My plan is this, at the end of every month I will write a reflection on what happened that month, and from that I will set aims to achieve for the following month so that I can look back at whether or not I achieve these aims in that months reflections. I know it sounds complicated but if everything goes to plan all will be revealed shortly.

Sorry this post has been a bit haphazard and not make much sense, but roll with it, this is just the beginning.

Dream Big

Laura

xoxoxo

Twitter: @LauraCharlotteG
instagram: @lauragee95

If you are unfamiliar with this website you can check it out here, and hey, why not donate while you're there; http://app.thefacesoffacebook.com/

Okay, so I am aware that this is a majorly sensitive subject, but it has just come to my attention that a little while ago #ShoutYourAbortion became rather popular on Twitter. The hashtag was designed for women to come forward and share their abortion stories in order to stop the stigma and shaming around abortion. While this is what the hashtag was intended for, of course a bunch of people who think they are Gods gift to creation chirp in and decide that they are perfect enough to tell these women who were bravely coming forward about a difficult time in their life, that they were horrible people. Reading more and more into the debate, it got me considering where i stand on the issue.

I think the pro-life vs pro-choice debate will always have some gray areas. I think it is small minded of people to say that abortion is wrong in all circumstances, or that it is okay in all circumstances because this is never the case in my opinion. With this in mind however, I am definitely more on the side of pro-choice, although I do recognise the problems with this argument too. While I'd love to for pro-life to be a realistic expectation for all of us to live by, it really isn't. For example, if you do not support abortion in any circumstances, where do you stand on a pregnant woman who was a victim of rape ? Would it be wrong for her to abort the child of the man who assaulted her ? What if that person was a minor? It's just one of horrific life problems we have to face head on, and unfortunately in some countries women are not given the choice in this situation. Furthermore, what about a young teenager who was not taught sex education or knew about safe sex? We can punish them sure, but punishing them by forcing them to have a child ? That's a pretty tall order. Many people would argue that this is the reason we have adoption, but carrying the child of your attacker for 9 months? Or going to school pregnant everyday at the age of 15 with people calling you names, forcing for you to be outcast for years to come because nobody wants their child hanging around with "that stupid couple". It's such a harsh reality that people ignore.

However, like I said the pro-choice argument has some faults too. To my knowledge, you can legally get  an abortion up to 24weeks into your pregnancy, or after 24 weeks if there is a danger to the mothers life. This for me is where I feel uncomfortable. At this point you are more than half way through your pregnancy, and while I imagine it certainly is not an easy decision to make or take lightly, every day you spend deliberating is another day that embryo/foetus (is that the right word?) is becoming  more and more like a baby. 24 weeks into the pregnancy seems like and extremely late time to be having the abortion to me. It seems to me that the parents (because I believe the father should have a say to) should have 4 weeks from finding out they're pregnant to make this decision. Obviously, they're are some truly exceptional and awful circumstances that won't apply to this (health risks etc) but as a general rule of thumb it seems much less harsh to me. I say 4 weeks from finding out, and not a definitive point in the pregnancy because some women do not find out they're pregnant until very late on! I've read some stories of women going their whole pregnancy without knowing they were expecting ! Another problem arises when you get people that use abortions as a form of birth control and get abortions frequently, but this is a seperate issue entirely and one that is possibly even more sensitive, so we'll leave that discussion for today shall we ?

Anyway these are just some point to consider before deciding where you stand. I think the most important rule here is that everybody, whether single mother or as a couple made the decision to have their abortion for a reason, and whether that reason makes sense to you or not, it was not an easy decision to make so just consider that and try not to pass judgement.

Be kind to others,

Laura

Xoxo

Hello darlings,

Why am I writing a blog post at 2am on a Monday morning? Because procrastination, that's why. Plus, i have a snoring Ross-osaurus sleeping next to me that is very rudely keeping me awake! After a  chat and some blogging inspiration from my bestest chum we ended up looking at our blogging stats, and while I'm not overly concerned with the amount of views my blog gets, it's nice knowing that it is being seen somewhere. To my surprise, i realise that my blog is being viewed all over the place; America, Australia, Russia, Germany and many others, not just the U.K! Now I'm no idiot, I know how these things work and the likelihood that all these people are regular readers that purposely came to my blog is slim to non, and while I'd love to think they all are, that is not actually the thing that fascinated me. What i found interesting is that this is the first time that I've probably been able to put the scale of the Internet into perspective. I know that sounds silly because the Internet is enormous, but hear me out.

Consider this for a second, you are on the beach in the U,K writing a letter in which you put your telephone number. You then put this letter in a bottle and throw it out to sea, you then seconds later receive a phone call from Australia saying they've just receive your letter. An odd concept to think of right ? It's mind boggling how we can write something, hit the 'send' or 'upload' button and it is instantly available all around the world ! As a business student I am encouraged to look into the progression of technology and consider where it might be in the future, but if current digital technologies are incomprehensible to me, how am i supposed to be able to consider where they will be in 10, or even 5 years time ? Madness.

I understand the concept of a viral video being shared on Facebook being seen globally, but a blog post by little old me? Scary stuff! It's made my tiny little world feel a whole lot bigger!

Explore always,

Laura

Xoxox

Twitter: @LauraCharlotteG