Hello

Hello all. You may be thinking ‘who the heck is Julia and why would I want to know about her life?’. In all honesty I have no real answer to either of these questions. Well, I know who I am but I can’t explain it in a cool way that makes me seem mysterious or any different than most 18 year old young ladies.

However I can explain myself in more simplistic terms. I am an 18 year old Brit who loves disco music, comedy panel shows and ice cream (despite being lactose intolerant … it’s worth it, trust me). In terms of my personality … well, I’d say it’s slightly more niche. Whilst I can be immature, generally I act as though I’m a 50 year old woman in the full throws of a mid-life crisis. This sector of myself has grown in intensity recently as I’m going to uni in September and whoa, that shit is scaring me … seriously, I possess an innate fear of growing older and the idea of leaving home and my childhood behind is certainly freaking me out! Anyway, that’s a subject for another day.

I’ve made this blog to share my experiences of getting ready for uni life, my slightly questionable fashion choices, stories of my repeatedly awkward encounters and hopefully my transition into adulthood (I’m not too sure this will occur soon though).

Have a nice day. – Julia B

 

 

Oxford Street to Camden Market

Day 2

Our second day in ye olde London Town firstly consisted of shopping in Oxford ‘Street’ (I use the word ‘street’ loosely as its size was more comparable to that of a sovereign state ). 

As an individual who isn’t particularly fond of shopping trips that exceed an hour, I found myself quite liking exploring the department stores and pretending as if I could afford the numerous bags and shoes that were worth far more than my most precious possession … my (very impressive) collection of decorative socks. 

I purchased a pair of pinstripe trousers (so people will assume I’m a business savvy young lady who knows her shiz about stocks and stuff like that), smelt every bath bomb in Lush and drank a hot beverage I can only assume was coffee in a very hipster-ish place that was far too cool to accommodate me and the ‘I LOVE LONDON’ tshirt I’d bought the day before. 

After ‘going underground’ once again on the tube, my instincts were drawing me ever closer towards the beating pulse of the London tourist… Buckingham Palace.

Once we’d taken a few photos of the gaff, we headed to dinner and once again … the pub! (I must mention here that I don’t usually go to the pub 2 days in a row, but the excitement of a lack of parental supervision had induced what I would only describe as teenage rebellion. Others would probably say my actions were not as rebellious as perceived by myself.) 

Day 3 

As a young lady that is repeatedly trying to convince those around me that I am I indeed ‘cool’, I thought it only silly not to visit Camden Market; an area acknowledged for having a trendy reputation. If Camden Market were personified I believe it would have a blue streak in its hair, a nose ring and potentially a tattoo of a dream catcher on its back. The area certainly lived up to its repuatation. 

We strolled around the stalls, the smell of insense strong and the sight of handmade jewellery frequent. I purchased what I believe is the hippest of Hawaiian shirts I’ve ever seen and ate lunch in a place I could tell was trendy as they had their own instagram page. 

With my ‘hipster scale’ being sufficiently nurtured, we headed back to the hotel, packed and sadly returned to Paddington to say fair well to the ‘the big smoke’ of which we had grown to love over the last few days. 

After 3 days I was slightly less intimidated of ol’ London Town and will hopefully return soon to continue in my exploration of all the wonderfully exciting places the city has to offer … (even if I don’t go to the exciting places, I can always visit to buy another Hawaiian shirt). 

Have a nice day – Julia B 

‘Going underground’

After 18 years of living only 2 hours away, this week I finally went to London. (And I touristed the shiz out of it)

It probably seems a tad strange that I could live so close to such an iconic city and not have visited there before. Well, this week I packed up my bumbag and headed towards the ‘big smoke’ that is ye olde London Town.

Day 1

Sunday morning, myself and 2 of the lovely young ladies that I call my friends reached Paddington Station. All was well until we headed underground to the tube… (prior to the telling of this story I must reiterate that I had never before visited London and had no real clue of where I was meant to be going)

Well, we got to the platform and as you may know the tube arrives every 3 minutes or so. Luckily enough, when we got there a train was waiting so I stepped on but just after I did the doors closed and my friends had no way of getting on the train (I’m sure I could have pressed some sort of button to open the doors or asked for help but I did have a constant fear that a modern day Oliver Twist would sense my naivety and attempt to steal my belongings). Subsequently I was left to stay on said train and hope that the stop I got off at was the right one. I got off at Charing Cross (a platform lovingly photographed above) and  attempted to put on the sort of expression that said ‘yes, I know this place you call London. I am not a lost tourist.’. I do remember that as I was leaving the train I saw a women carrying a large cake box and I asked if I could help. She replied with a harsh ‘no’ which makes me think that I successfully gave off a cool vibe that can’t be trusted with cake but I think my Lionel Richie t-shirt may have lessened said persona.

Anyway, back to the problem at hand … losing my friends. As luck would have it, my hesitation of where I was meant to go held me up for just long enough that the next tube arrived and I was greeted with the sound of my name being shouted and my friends running towards me as though I was a dog that had runaway. We were reunited lads.

After checking into the hotel and allowing myself a moment to get over the initial Tube trauma, we began our travels. Firstly we visited the national gallery so my friends and I could attempt to be cultured (but really just to visit the gift shop and buy some novelty fridge magnets). We then visited the Natural History Museum and it was really friggin’ good. There were dinosaurs and a model of a cave man (that I felt slightly awkward around as despite being made from clay it had its ‘old fella’ on full display and I wasn’t prepared to see a Neanderthal’s todger 4 o’clock on a Sunday afternoon).

We went for dinner in the very classy borough of London that is Kensington … oh yes we went to Pizza Express, baby. Had a few cheeky alcoholic beverages in a pub and headed back to the hotel.

Yes, despite having a slightly rocky start, day 1 in London was very good indeed. I realised that I should be slightly less enthusiastic when getting on trains, learn to sometimes leave those with cake alone and to shy away from cave men that have yet to accept the concept of pants into their lives.

The adventures of Day 2 shall follow soon.

Have a nice day – Julia B

Beach Boiis

When it’s warm in Britain there truly is only one thing to do … go to the beach and try not to leave said beach looking like a tomato human. (To be fair, I did leave with a slight tomato-esque complexion)

Messing about in the sea and playing mini golf actually made me feel like I was about 6 again and it was great. I’m not really sure why, but being able to just sit on the sand and build a (f*cking amazing) sandcastle is strangely enjoyable. It’s one of those simple things that just lets me chill and forget I have actual adult(ish) shit to do.

I started the day a tad self-conscious with my Hawaiian shirt making me look like a young dad and ended it walking around with my watermelon swimming costume on full display! ”Twas all going well then we went to the fair and shit got real … there was a frickin’ Zoltar machine!! If you aren’t aware of what that is, it’s the premise of the film ‘Big’ (a banger of a film I may add). You just put some money in and a mechanical fortune teller tells you your future on a lil card. I know they’re just general comments so they’re essentially applicable to anyone that pays but mine was accurate af. It spoke about sleeping and that’s something I do!! (but I suppose everyone does that so I’m not going to say everything it predicted is 100%)

It also said I shall soon attract a handsome young man but I’m not too sure my crocs and bumbag are really going to allure the lads. … yeah, I think my rather unsuccessful attempts to attract the gents is a story (full on novel) for another day.

But anyway, it was a really good day and I would suggest a beach trip for anyone that loves a bit of nostalgic banter.

Also, I feel I should change my uni degree to sand castle building because my skills need to be recognised.

Have a nice day – Julia B