Jenny's guide to being bored.

It has been two months and twenty one days since I moved back to Wolverhampton, that's a whole one thousand, nine hundred and sixty eight hours I have had to amuse myself. Minus the five hundred and seventy hours I have spent sleeping of course! I wish I was one of those people that can sleep all day long but instead I am a ridiculously energetic person that wakes up as soon as the sun comes up and the birds start to sing. I have had an amazing two week holiday in Lanzarote, two weeks at work and plenty of days out but there are still sooooooooo many days in between that have to be filled with something.

BUT let's not complain about all my free time any longer! Here is my guide (complete with pictures) to being bored...

"The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things."

- Henry Ward Beecher

One: Firstly one must become a lazy cliché, more commonly known as a couch potato. This can be achieved my spending prolonged amounts of time sat on the sofa without moving. Some couch potatoes also like to have a stash of drinks and snacks close by so they can minimise the potential efforts in having to go and fetch things. A very serious side effect of this however is numb bum. Optimise your television usage by having a go with all of it's features all in one day. On demand, DVD's, blu-rays, PS3, Wii, Xbox... maybe even teletext or mess about with the settings? Up the saturation and turn people into Oompa Loompas. Just remember how to change it back.

Two: Stare absently at the fridge in search of something yummy. If you do not prevail, repeat this action with the freezer, pantry, cupboards, under the floor boards, mum's secret stash... etc.

Three: Foot face. This one is especially for Nikki... or monkeys.

Four: At home gym. Make use of your treadmill, rowing machine, exercise bike, wii fit, fitness DVDs and get that lean body you always wanted....

NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!

Five: Do some internet shopping and order loads of stuff that you know deep down you don't need. Then sit  around, pace nervously and complain about the postal service in your pyjamas all morning until it finally gets delivered. Then you can have the minute of euphoria that your parcel has arrived which is ruined 5 minutes later when you realise nothing fits and you wasted £3.95 on delivery costs. Unless you got super saver delivery and ordered a scarf (which of course fits so I proceeded to wear it in all of the pictures taken for this blog post).

Six: Experiment with alternative sitting positions. This could help prevent the numb bum situation I mentioned earlier, plus I am SURE you could be burning some calories with all that shuffling about. This is a Nikki creation beautifully modelled by Nikki herself.

Seven: Become a make-up/nail/hair ARTIST. There are plenty of tutorials and stuff to help you on YouTube... literally THOUSANDS to choose from. Shall we try the blue eye liner look?

NAILED IT!!!

Eight: Have multiple naps. I can't do this as I am a stupidly light sleeper :'( I am only pretending in the picture.. I know right, such a good actress! But seriously, if you have the ability to sleep at any time then you should definitely catch some z's.

Nine: Help with the housework because you have soooo much free time and the house would look lovely if it was all gleaming and stuff....

NAAAAAAAAAAT!

Ten: Scary fencing face. I made this one up on Friday on the way back from Merry Hill shopping centre. Nikki bought a sieve to add to her ever growing pile of Uni crap. I am pretty sure I don't own a sieve? Oh well! I taught her how she could properly utilise it; by pretending it was a fencing mask and staring at people through it.. out the car window.

Eleven: Aggravate people. You are suffering because you are so so so so so so so bored and I believe they should suffer right along with you. Here is a quick list of aggravation techniques to get you started...
1. Mess someone's hair up as you walk past. repeatedly.
2. Drink lots of coffee and be really perky around someone who is really tired.
3. Toe poke. This can be used in almost every situation and has a 100% success rate. It is also useful if you can point your big toe independently from your other toes like I can. I know I'm a freak.
4. Make camel noises about everything; hungry? thirsty? tired? bored? Wack out the camel noise. I have been doing this with Nikki ever since we rode camels in Lanzarote. They make a loud noise that is gravelly and sounds kind of like "WUUUUUUUUUUUUUUAAAAAA" 

Twelve: Sofa Cycling. A childhood invention that just followed us right through our teens, even though we are three feet taller now then we were then; My mother strongly believes that this is the reason our sofa broke. See the video below as for this one, words escape me.

Thirteen: The ball of despair (An alternative to the foetal position). Use only when you have done EVERYTHING in your power to escape the boredom. Have you? Really? are you definitely sure? Okay then, curl up and contemplate your life.

I hope this helps guys :) Ciao!

Embrace your inner hippie

No I don't mean donning your best tie dye flares, growing your hair to extraordinary lengths and listening to Bob Dylan. Modern day Hippies can be found everywhere, looking for a more environmentally friendly lifestyle and getting back to basics. I really believe that sometimes we need to take a step back from our busy, technology filled lives and just relax... let a bit of peace and love back into your life ;) Here are my tips to letting out your inner hippie...

Shop Fairtrade and Local

Supermarkets are really loving the 'support your local farmers' thing at the moment which I am all for! It's great that British farmers are benefiting from our custom, rather than someone in Timbuktu or elsewhere. Buying local produce also means that we are cutting down on the transportation of goods which leads to a smaller Carbon Footprint in the long run, score! As a student, fairtrade products are the cause of a major inner debate. I really want to buy fairtrade coffee, bananas and chocolate but sometimes my pennies just can't stretch that far! (It is a similar issue with free range eggs) I do always take the fairtrade moral high ground when I can... just think of happy smiling African children when you have to downgrade from birdseye to ASDA fish fingers!

Also, don't forget your re-usable bags ;)

Swap your car for a lovely Walk or Bike ride.

Here I am again, banging on about bikes. I am just so darn excited to get on my brand new bike in September; complete with basket and bell!! Obviously I don't need to tell you about the environmental benefits of cutting back your pollution levels but it's fantastic for your health and wellbeing too :)

Or you could take your bike for a walk? ;)

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Do something Meaningful.

As a trainee teacher I fully understand the love of helping others... otherwise I wouldn't have chosen to do it as a profession :P Apparently more and more people are making their career choices based on meaningfulness and their passion rather than basing it on how much money they might earn. Seeing as I can't find a job in York at the moment, I decided to apply at my local Oxfam for some volunteer work. There are PLENTY of charity shops in York which I am pretty sure would beg you to help out, even if it's just an afternoon a week! 

Be Thrifty

There are so many DIY and upcycling ideas around lately that I just had to jump on board! Below is a picture of a couple of pots that I upcycled into a penpot/storage pot. I picked up the terracotta pots for 49p each from Sainsburys Homebase; they had a range of different sizes and shapes that were relatively cheap. Then all I had to do was raid my Sister's art supplies, spend half an hour getting messy and voila! Two lovely pots that will take pride of place on my shelf at Uni. For other DIY ideas for home interiors you should definitely check out lovely undergrad.

Get in touch with Nature.

Here I go again eh? :P You know I love to go outside, it clears my head and I think you can have lots of fun! Put down your xbox and put on your wellies. 

For the nature enthusiasts and the young at heart, check out these websites :)
http://www.kidsclosertonature.co.uk/

http://www.naturedetectives.org.uk

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/

http://www.nationalparks.gov.uk/

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/

Cue pictures of me and Nikki being all wild and nature loving.

Actually spend time with people you Love.

As we are all home for the Summer it's hard to spend time with all my Uni friends; yes we have facebook, texts and everything else but it's not that same as actual conversation or sitting in bed together until stupid times in the morning. It's lovely being home and spending time with family and friends here though. I spent a good hour with Nikki the other day just laughing at absolute rubbish on the internet, we even did the silent laugh that happens when you laugh so much all you can do it wrinkle up your face and inhale.

Cue an old picture that's full of snuggly love.

xox

Pink wine and piercings.

Now all avid New Girl fans should know what happens when you drink pink wine. However for you utter weirdos  lovely people that don't watch it, let Jess explain...

Alas this was not the case for me on Monday night! After spending most of my Summer avoiding nights out in Wolverhampton, I decided that celebrating Dally's birthday was a good enough reason to to venture out and leave the safe confines of my home. I can't drink a lot at the best of times but not drinking for a month definitely turns me into a super lightweight! Jess holds it together a lot better than I did after drinking a bottle of pink wine, even with her dodgy flirting and dancing. Me and Dally were feeling a bit delicate on Tuesday morning after all the pink wine antics (rubbish students) so I opted for a couple of fruity kopparbergs to drink at a bbq I was invited to. Dally however stayed loyal to her vodka haha.

Me and the pink wine. In a pink cup of course!

Yesterday was my third and final Dally day of this week. She took me to Manchester for the day :) she is a student there so I had a lovely free tour of the best places to eat and of course all of the shops!!! My pay cheque FINALLY arrived from project international so I enjoyed spending a little bit on myself :) I already did an ASOS order on Sunday because I was just so excited at the prospect of having money! What do you think of this River Island number?? Apologies for the cliche mirror shot, flash glare and total myspace style picture! Especially when our posh camera is sat on the bed right behind me too.

Anyway, back to my Manchester antics! Dally took me for lunch in a really cute cafe called Home Sweet Home which had a great eclectic vintage feel to the place. I dug into some amazingly spicy sweet potato fries and had a posh cup of English Breakfast Tea on the side.

On our adventures through all the vintage shops I managed to pick up a pair of Levis shorts for £15 which I am super excited about! I also got my helix pierced on my right ear which was fun to explain to my parents when I got home :P I never knew Manchester had so many quirky shops, we even found one that sold a Buzz Lightyear print playsuit... unfortunately for Dally it wasn't in her size :'( I couldn't forget about the good old highstreet shops though so I got a lovely jumper for £14 from New Look with my discount. My new shorts and jumper make a brand new outfit that I shall be wearing today! I am not a fashion blogger so again, apologies for the shoddy outfit shot; I need to get some tips from Rosie.

Thank you Dally for a lovely day!! Anyone else that fancies showing me their city, invites are more than welcome haha

xox

Great Outdoors

I don't really have the mental capacity to write my Sunday blog in the fantasticly witty fashion that I usually do ;) I spent all of yesterday moving into my new house in York and having a mini day out with the family so I am cream crackered shattered today!

My new roooooom

Today we were meant to be off to Church Stretton for a good ol' walk in the countryside but I think we are all feeling a pyjama day instead :) Sundays is our outdoorsy day, be it going for a nice long trek or just visiting the garden centre; I secretly love garden centres, I love looking at all the plants and the rabbits in the pet section :) as a kid you would find me and my sister running in and out of all the tents. This time of year is the perfect time to get out and about (even in the rain) so I've found a load of pictures that might inspire you to get some fresh air this week...

xox

Seven reasons why...

...it is totally fabulous being single

Let's not beat around the bush, break-ups are hard. Period. But there is much more to life than being part of a couple! Jason Derulo even wrote a song about the positives of riding solo ;) I'm one of those girls that is happy in a relationship but also happy being single, but I'm also a strong believer of only being in a relationship if you are happy and it is working for both of you. You should make the most of your life and be happy, no matter what your relationship status is! So here are a few things that are my pros of the single life...

more 'me' time

It's soooo good having loads of time to look after myself now; face masks, body butter, spending hours on my nails, you name it! A film and girly pampering, that makes you feel amazing, beats a night of checking football scores or watching him play Call of Duty every time.

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slob days

When you finally reach long term relationship territory it becomes acceptable to look your absolute worse on a regular basis because your guy should love you unconditionally right? I have totally done this on many occasions but I still felt super guilty that I wasn't making an effort. Now I can wake up with no worries about how awful I look; panda eyes.. no problem!

glamour glamour glamour

Being single is NO excuse to let yourself go; yes eat your weight in ice-cream for a few days but then you need to get a grip! It's amazing what a good body scrub, nice smelling shampoo and your favourite dress can do to your outlook on life :) Look fabulous, feel fabulous. Katy Perry didn't stop being one hot mama just because of Russell now did she? Nope, she turned it up a notch.

movie moments

There is a really good column in Cosmopolitan magazine thats is all about the single/taken life. Laura Jane MacBeth writes all about the single life in a brilliantly witty fashion and I'd like to share some of her advice. All mundane moments in your life like waiting for the bus, shopping for groceries or visiting the gym now become a potential moment for you to meet fantastic guys. It doesn't just happen in the movies ;)

freedom
I can't really complain about past relationships because I have always been allowed to do my own thing, however it is never the same as when you are single. For me, I just got out of an 'opposites attract' relationship so now I feel like the pressure of understanding and participating in stuff that I'm just not interested in has gone :) it works both ways though, I no longer have to watch someone force themselves to do something that I naturally find really enjoyable. Watching six Harry Potter films in a week so he could watch the seventh in cinema was some definite dedication to me! It's just great to be able to go to places I like and do what I enjoy without having to consider anyone else :)

switch off
Being in a long distance relationship meant that I was really reliant on technology. Phone calls, texting, facebook and skype all played a major part in our communication. Don't get me wrong I love all these things but it's nice to just spend an hour without checking to see if he has spoke to you. I can now read a book without getting distracted by texts :D

guilt free ogling & flirting

Having Ryan Gosling as your phone background is now more than acceptable. Smiling at that guy in the queue in Asda is totally fine. I am a total flirting novice after being off the market for two years but I will get there soon :)