Tea & Cake at Sketch, London

Hello!



For this weeks adventure, I took to Sketch, London for afternoon tea.
If you haven't heard of sketch already, it's a themed (trying to think what theme it is right now, but I have no idea what you'd call it) dining venue. I say dining venue because there's many different rooms that have different menu's (one's a cafe, one a restaurant if you get me).
It's likely you've seen photos of sketch before though without knowing ... A white room full of egg shaped toilets, with a multi-coloured ceiling of lights, that everyone seems to be posting on Instagram. (ring any bells?... Scroll down, you'll know what I mean!) 

I'm a very big fan of afternoon tea, and I must say Sketch is up there in my top 5 places for afternoon tea in London!




What's on the menu?

The standard menu consists of four courses, but I believe the menu does change sometimes so make sure you check the website before you go. (I've linked it for you at the bottom x)

The first course consists of a small plate of caviar with 'egg and soldiers' (the little wooden spoon is just for decoration, there's real cutlery you can use.. I found this out the hard way)

The second, they will bring out a plate of scones with a selection of delicious jams and cream. Definitely my fave part!

The third is a three-tiered cake stand filled with freshly prepared sandwiches, (most are afternoon tea classics, but with a twist. For example, the standard cheese sandwich is on a rye bread witch chutney and all things fancy) (I've never seen such a posh take on a cheese sandwich in my life) pastries - both savoury & sweet, and desserts.

And the fourth course, if you're not already stuffed, they bring round a selection of cakes on a copper cart, which you can choose from. You can ask for a bag to take them away if you can't manage to finish it all.

To top it all off, you can choose from a separate menu of loose leaf tea to sip on whilst you fill yourself with cake!




How much does it cost?

The standard afternoon tea costs £58, per person, for two people (plus £10 service charge each.. I think). 
There are other's you can buy aswell, for example, they serve an afternoon tea that comes with prosecco, which of course is more expensive, (way out of my budget at the moment! gotta' get saving I 'av) but they pour the prossecco in a really fancy way, from up high. (The idea of them hiring me went out the window as soon as I saw them pouring the drinks. What a mess that would be if I attempted, ha) Or if you've got children, they offer a kids menu.
If you have any dietary needs (for example, i'm a veggie) they can cater for you, although i'm unsure if they offer a vegan menu.




Why go to Sketch?

Apart from the amazing (Instagram worthy) interior, the food is honestly delicious and is on par with the great service from staff. Although it's a little on the pricey side, sketch is a wonderful experience that would make for a great day out, whether you're on a date, a mate date or with family. I'm considering taking my mum here for mothers day as it's the perfect place!




How do I get there?

It's located just off of regent street, about a 5 minute walk from Liberty London or 10 minutes from Oxford Circus station. Very easy to get to, just walk toward the up-side down dog on the side of the building and you're there.

Spot the annoying child....

If I've persuaded you to go,
happy tea-ing!




Lots of love,
Kate

xx

Visit Sketch London here!





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TWENTY.

Hello! 

It's my twentieth birthday today bitchezz!
A day filled with cake and alcohol, what more could you want?
You wouldn't believe how excited I am to finally be turning twenty. I've got a new outfit, new lipstick, god knows how many layers of fake tan on, (bondi sands, from the heavens) and hair so curly I look like I'm from the 90's.
I'm sure a lot of people don't think anything of their twentieth, it's all about the year after, but for me these last few teenage years have been tough to say the least, (someone up there has been a lil bitch, or maybe karma caught up with me which is more likely lol) and turning twenty feels like a fresh start! I'm finally looking forward to what the future has to offer, and i'm excited to see what's going to happen in what's meant to be the best years of my life. (I hope it's filled with friends, cake, fitties, dogs and adventures)... (in other words, if there are any fit lads out there who can bake, owns a dog and is up for travelling the world with my pals, @ me okay x)


I've given this a little thought, and in order to make these next ten years as amazing as I hope they are, here are twenty different things that I'm planning to do, or am doing in my twenties:

1. Travel.

Right so, I've already started this one but theres so much more to come in this decade! It's the one thing I'm in love with (apart from my dog, shoutout to Brodie) I've always loved travelling and I always will. When i'm away is when I feel most like myself, Its when I'm most confident, and when i'm most happy. There's literally no place I don't want to visit, and I'm really hoping that by the time I turn thirty I would've crossed a lot off my list.
I'm currently saving for a 9, maybe 12 (maybe forever) month backpacking trip with one of my fave gal pals, and we couldn't be more excited. The aim is to start from Hawaii and then wing it and see where it takes us. Just enjoy our lives, make as many memories as possible, meet as many people as possible and be as happy as possible. I can't think of a better way to live my life to be honest than with a little backpack, an anklet, a camera, a map, a beer and maybe a nose ring so I can be the ultimate traveller.

2. Make a youtube channel.

My life is full of good content and maybe if I start filming a lot of it I can maybe catch something that I can send off to you've been framed and bag myself £250.

3. Stop comparing myself to others.

I'm so bad at this. I have my moments when I'm really confident in who I am, but most of the time I'm  far from it. I'm always stalking everyones instagram's, comparing my life to theirs even though we're so different. I always look at what everyone else has achieved, like getting their degree, or getting an amazing job opportunity, but I'm realising that everyones going at a different pace in life.  Who's to say that I won't get a degree in my lifetime? Not at the same time most of my friends have, but that doesn't matter.

4. Skydive

Yaaaas. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No no, it's just me attached to a giant parachute.

5. Find myself a career that doesn't feel like work

I've got a lot of career ideas in my head, but to be honest at the moment I'm not feeling any of them. I might study to be a midwife, maybe a veterinary nurse, maybe I'll get a marketing job, or maybe I'll open up my own hostel one day (now wouldn't that be amazing! I've planned my own hostel out in my head in so much detail its become bit of an obsession ha, watch this space) I'll be giving them all a try though because you never know! I'm really not the sort of person who can sit and do a really boring job that I don't enjoy. I don't think thats living. After all, you spend the most amount of your adult hood in your work place, so you've got to love it, or you're wasting your life.

6. Clear the toxic people

I'm very picky with my people trust me. I'm all or nothing. (If you're one of my faves then theres no getting rid of me, sorry. You're stuck with me)
 I've been cracking down on who the important people are in my life and staying away from the ones who aren't really there for me. Life's too short to be around people who put you down, and don't want the best for you. If you can't be yourself around someone then find someone who you can be yourself around, plenty of different (nice) people to meet!

7. Get a nice bum

Gotta be getting those squats in now don't I ay.

8. Save money

Save, save, save! For the future, for when I buy a house, or get married or have children or for travelling. I think it's great to save a little bit of money and future me is going to thank me so much!

9. Go to a festival

 (or two, or three, or ten)

10. Blog

I've clearly already started this one but I genuinely love writing on my blog in my spare time and i've got so many ideas for blog posts that I can't wait to write! I want to make my blog every personal still, but focus mainly on making it a travel blog, sharing my experiences and tips!

11. Spend some time volunteering

Volunteering is so rewarding I love it so much, Ive got plans to volunteer here in London, maybe on christmas day and also to volunteer in Bali!

12. Be selfish

 I'm going to do a lot more for myself from now on.

13. Run a marathon

14. Climb Mount Kilimanjaro

By the time i've trained for this marathon I should be running up this mountain.
(I'll be starting with Snowdon I think)

15. Have my own little family

 Whether it be a family of dogs, cats, a husband and children, who knows. I'd just love to have my own people (or pets) to go home to everyday.
(alright, cheesy I know)

16. Stop being so hard on myself

17. Go diving and overcome my fears

So, one of my biggest fears are sharks. I think this ones stemmed from watching 'Open Water' when I was about 7.  I vividly remember watching from behind the sofa, a man getting his leg bitten off. Not age appropriate that.
I'm really interested in going diving though, maybe in Thailand as they've got the cheapest diving courses in the world. It's just the sharks stopping me here so hopefully I can overcome this fear! (you'll never catch me shark cage diving anytime soon though, no time for that)

18. Stop moaning so much

I've only recently realised how much I actually moan about stupid things, so i'm really going to try and stop myself from now on and just get on with everything and look at the positives.

19. Eat healthily

 (can't get a good bum with no greens)

20. Keep on not taking life too seriously!

The most important one.




There's my twenty things that I'm going to keep working on and make happen.

In all seriousness, I'm so grateful that I've turned twenty, as this years been extremely tough learning how to deal with my depression. It's really opened my eyes to a lot though, I'm feeling so positive about the future.
I'm also so grateful that I've got so many amazing people by my side (I've picked you all well) to celebrate with! Love you all lots xx

Cheers to the twenties my favourites!





Lots of love,
 kate
x

10 Tips I Learnt From Travelling Thailand

Hello!

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that i've been travelling Thailand for the past few weeks (sorry for the amount of posts if you do follow me, just had to be done x) and I had the most amazing time! Beauty wise, it's definitely up there, on the same level as Iceland (same same, but different) there's such beautiful views, I found it a little overwhelming at times. Travelling Thailand has been on my list for such a long time and when I dropped out of uni, I had a little 'fuck it' moment and booked my flights with the last of my student loan. (I'd advise telling your parents before you book a flight to Asia with whats left of your money. Didn't go down too well when I told them one afternoon, ha. Wait until I tell them I got another tattoo out there.. just kidding, not this time x) 

I used this three week trip as a taster for when I go travelling for a long time, which I plan to do in the near future, and i'm so glad I did it because even though i've been before, it's been completely different circumstances and now I've learnt so much I'm so excited to put my backpack on again! (not literally, they're a pain in the bum)


So here are my top 10 tips:

 1. DON'T OVERPACK!

I'm awful when it comes to packing, I always find myself thinking: 'but what if I need this?', 'maybe I will just incase', 'what if I regret not brining it?', 'this will definitely come in handy' (I know, I have a problem).
The night before my flight to Bangkok, I was just chucking things into my backpack and not thinking about it, so my bag was so heavy, it was a struggle to even get to the airport, let alone walking with it in thirty degree heat for half an hour! When we arrived at our first hostel, I tried to sort through my things but I couldn't part ways with a lot, as to me, it was just like throwing money away. I did leave my hair dryer and straighteners behind as soon as we got there though (I know what your all thinking, why on earth did you pack those?! Well, they were travel ones okay, and I'd seen someone else pack them so I was like, yeah i'll take mine too, just trying to justify it now lol).
You definitely don't need them! Most of the time hostels will have hairdryers if you ask, and as for straighteners, just give ya hair a break. (It will thank you I promise) and honestly, no one really cares about hygiene when you're out there, let alone caring about your hair looking flat.

The markets in Thailand are also amazing, and it's gutting when you see the top of dreams but you don't have enough space in your bag for it, or you spent too much money on clothes at home and can't afford it. (both of which happened to me, every market stall I went too). So, don't bring too much with you, you honestly don't need hardly anything at all, and if you do need something, you can always buy it when you're there.

If you're struggling with what to pack, try looking at youtube videos of what people took with them. Kinging-it is a great travel channel that I love and really recommend. (although, this is where I found someone else taking straighteners, so just ignore that bit)



2. BOOK IN ADVANCE

Now I know a lot of people just travel without any plans, and that's great, and also what I intend to do  when I go, but If you can book anything in advance then my advice is to do it as a lot of the time it's cheaper. The further ahead you do it, the cheaper it can be.
We booked our flights and our boats to and from the Islands online, and when we got to the pier the price to pay on the door was 400 baht more than what we payed, which works out an extra £10. This may not seem like a lot, but it adds up! (That could be your food for the week, or that can get you like 3 vodka buckets. Worth it, if ya ask me!)
If you do book in advance though, find an internet café and print off you're tickets or receipt. Most of the time you can show your phone, or they'll print it for you, but you might come across some staff who won't accept it. It only costs around 10 baht to print in most places, so, very cheap!

Don't have a picture of the boats as I had my head tucked into my life jacket the whole time, trying to not to puke, so here's a lovely picture of our legs above the trees. 

3. BEWARE OF SCAMMERS

Or as I like to call them, dickheads. Not everyone will try to rip you off, but it will happen a lot so be careful.
When we first arrived in Bangkok airport, a friendly man who's lived in Thailand for a while told us to always ask to put the metre on when getting a taxi. So off we went and got in the first taxi we saw, not knowing how much a taxi to our hostel was supposed to cost. The driver offered us a price of 600baht but we were consistent with asking the driver to put the metre on, thinking we knew what we were doing. The journey was quite long and we'd just been on a plane for a day so we fell asleep in the taxi. I kept waking up and thinking 'oo that metres gone up a lot, ouch'. I could also hear the driver laughing, and now I know he was probably laughing at us (twat, karma will get you x). The fare ended up costing 900baht including the toll prices. We messed up massively here, turns out falling asleep in your taxi is the worst thing you can do. The owner of our hostel said that the fare should've cost us around 400-500baht and the driver rigged the metre when we weren't looking, which was the whole way because ya know, we were tired (btw Born Free hostel is a great place to stay in Bangkok, 10/10 would recommend).
Always check what the normal price to pay for everything is, a lot of the times its more expensive for tourists which is normal, only to some extent. You can always haggle a price too! If you're staying at a good hostel (or your posh enough for a hotel) then ask the staff there, they're usually so helpful.



4. KNOW HOW TO HAGGLE

This fits in with tip 3, comes in so handy when getting a taxi anywhere, or when buying pretty much anything. We are now pro's at this. We've got our technique down to a tee, (along with battering our eyelashes). Whoever you're buying anything from will most likely give you a very high price to begin with, after all, they want the highest sale possible, so there will always be room to haggle the price down a little bit.
Decide on how much you're willing to pay for the item/taxi and then say a much lower price. You can then meet in the middle, which is what you were going to pay anyway, and sorted. Don't push your luck though.
Look around at prices too (this is also similar to tip 3 but that one was getting a bit long, so i'll just talk about it here x) We were mostly good at doing this until we were in Koh Phi Phi, and our hostel (Blancos beach bar, don't stay here) persuaded us to go on their boat trip which did include all of the places we wanted to see, but other places were doing this same trip for half the price and we really wished we'd looked around first.
Still worth it though!

This moment made up for being ripped off! 

5. EAT LOTS OF FRUIT AND VEG (or bring Dioralyte)

Yeah, your mum was right all along.
The change in food can affect you, (especially the amount of rice you're going to consume) so make sure you still try and eat a little healthy and get your fibre in, or you might find yourself trying to explain constipation to a Thai lady working at the pharmacy. The lady's face when I said "me... no.. poo?" was a picture, she just replied with "um, constipation then?". Why I didn't just say that in the first place I don't know. (not a great moment in my life). The markets sell amazing, cheap fruit so eating healthy is no problem, just make sure it's clean because you might end up with a travellers tummy (you might shit yourself in other words) which is also not pleasant, and it can have you running to the toilet at the worst times (like in the middle of checking in, or on an overnight train where there is no toilet, just a hole, a handle, and the whole cast of A Bugs Life, gd times x)
Remember that hand sanitiser and Dioralyte when you're packing!



6. DOWNLOAD MAPS.ME

Maps.Me is an app that lets you navigate without any internet. It will be your saviour. All you have to do is download the map for your area when you do have internet and your good to go! It tells you how to get everywhere, and you can pinpoint all of the spots you want to visit so you don't forget any, like you can have a look at the top temples to visit in the area and mark them all.  We used this a lot these past three weeks, honestly so worth it.

7. FACTOR 50 IS YOUR BEST FRIEND

As i'm writing this, i've got a t-shirt wrapped around my arm because it's bright red, and a burn on-top of a burn is not fun.
 I was so careful the whole time, and luckily this, and burning my face were the only times I got burnt. I'd used a spray suncream for my face that usually worked so well (La Roche Posay, factor 50) but I didn't realise it had run out so it left me a walking, blistered tomato.
I would advise taking suncream with you from home because most supermarkets in Thailand sell suncreams that have whitening in them (unless you want to stay pale, then by all means go for it). If you're pale like me, take a factor 50 with you, the sun is so strong in Thailand, it will save you having to bathe in aloe vera.




8. DON'T STROKE STRAY ANIMALS (when drunk)

Right so, there are a lot of cute stray animals in Thailand, cats and dogs wherever you look. I'm such a sucker for them, and couldn't help myself so i'm going to be a hypocrite here. I'd had the rabies jab and everything and i'd advise you to get one before you go away too. You can never be too careful with stray animals, the last thing you want is to catch an illness off of them.
When you're drunk leave the animals alone because they will bite you. Here's a lovely picture of me getting bitten by a cat on my way to Spicy (Chiangmai club, great after zoe's) a real kodak moment....enjoy. (I know it looks like i'm smoochin' a cat, but I promise i'm not, it jumped up at me at the perfect moment haha, too funny)

Please don't avoid me, I don't have rabies now xoxoxoxo

9. DON'T LISTEN TO THE WEATHER APP

If you're planning your trip around the weather, then don't. The whole time we were expecting rain (we were in monsoon season) and that's what the forecast was telling us, but we were so so lucky with the weather, most of the time it was opposite to what was forecast (and still, not much of a tan for me ffs). If there's an island you want to go to but the weather doesn't look good, my advice is to go anyway because more than likely it will be beautifully sunny! 

Only listen to the weather if you're just about to go on a hike up a mountain and it looks like theres a storm coming. Don't go up that mountain please, you'll get caught in a horrible storm like we did!

10. RESEARCH THE HOSTELS

If you haven't heard of Hostel World yet, get yo self on it! I've used it for a while now and it never lets me down. You can download the app so it makes it easier to book hostels from wherever you are around the world. Theres so many to choose from and you can read all of the reviews from previous guests to make sure its right for you. From the different ones we stayed at, hostel world was so accurate, the ratings were honestly spot on. You can book private rooms, mixed or female dorms (I'd always go for mixed, it's much more friendly from my experience)
When you go to book your hostel, only book one or two nights, that way if it's not for you, you can leave without wasting any money. And if you love it, you can book more nights at the reception.
(I'll be writing another post on where I stayed, and which were my favourite hostels soon!)


There's my top 10 tips that i've learnt from the past few weeks. I'm so glad I did this mini trip as I feel so much more prepared for my longer travels around Asia and the rest of the world in the future. It's making me so determined to save as much money as I can from now until then, so I can keep travelling forever! Found my happy place I av.



Lots of Love,
Kate
x










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Brighton Up Buttercup!

Hello!

I've found a new (old) love that gives me heart eyes, and it comes in the form of pebbled beaches, quaint streets and typical British, fudge-selling, souvenir shops! (there was some serious restraint here not to buy endless crap I didn't need just because it was cute, lol)

Welcoming in the spring with a one-day trip to Brighton, was enough to make me fall head over heels in love with it, all over again!

Just me lookin' all happy. This was actually a real candid, can you believe it?! (the rest are well fake, lol)

Since i've dropped out of university, I've been taking some time to myself. Just a couple of weeks off to clear my head and refresh a little bit, before going back to being a supermarket-working/shoe-selling gal. (I'm so excited to work again, i'll be 'making it rain' in Zara & Topshop with my first pay check, trust. Well, after my student debt is payed off, ha). 

Having not been in the best of places recently, my best friend being the cutie she is, booked us tickets to Brighton for the day to cheer me up, as its one of my favourite places to go. We caught the train from London, bright and early (almost missed it because we were late, as per) and headed straight towards the North Laine, in search of a cute (Insta worthy, of course) cafe, that would feed us smoked salmon, because what is brunch without salmon?

We found a gem called Kooks, which is a restaurant in the North Laine that I really recommend going to if you're brunchin' in Brighton, It's delicious! Their smoked salmon and eggs, made for two very happy, stuffed gals x 

After brunchin' and eating too much, too quickly (we were hungry ok) we strolled down to the beach for a little ponder, and a cheeky lie down on the pebbles (we had that Christmas feeling, ya know, when you eat wayy to much dinner and chocolate in one go, you know the one). Luckily the weather was absolutely beautiful, so we stayed on the beach for the majority of the day, walking down to the beach huts, past the West Pier, and back, to find a good spot to sit in where we could kinda dodge the seagulls (Turns out, impossible. You can't hide from these lil dickheads).

 Honestly one of the best breakfasts I've had! And yep, that's me in the corner, snapping the shit out of it.

By the beach, British Airways have recently opened Brighton's new attraction, the i360 which you really can't miss when you're there, it's huge. It's a futuristic viewing pod that takes you 450 feet high, with beautiful 360 degree views of the beach, pier and city.  We got our tickets, and similar to the London Eye, they treat the experience like a 'flight' so you get a 'boarding time'. Before you go on, there's a bar and some deck chairs to sit in while you wait which are really sweet (lol couldn't get out of my deck chair, short people probs) as well as another bar when you go inside the pod. Being (ex) poor students, we ordered apple juice and just watched everyone else sip on their £10 glass of champagne which I wish was in my hand. (wish the bottle was in my hand actually). The experience does go fairly quickly, I think it lasts around 25 minutes, 10 of which you stay at the top, but overall I would recommend getting yourself a ticket if you're in Brighton the views really are beaut!

After this, we walked to The Lanes where we came across Choccy-woccy-doo-dah, which if you haven't heard of, it's a chocolate shop that sells everything made of chocolate. By everything, I mean you can literally buy a unicorn, carved out of chocolate. They have a cafe upstairs, which is for a sweet tooth (obvs) selling pretty much chocolate anything. We ordered a fondue that was so yummy, it's making my mouth water thinking about it. And if that wasn't enough, we found another shop down The Lanes called Dum Dums Donutterie,  which I'm sure is in Shoreditch too, but i've never been in before. I now regret this because it's the nicest thing i've ever tasted. They had an 'eton mess' 'cronut', which i'm guessing is a croissant/donut? Filled with some magical cream. (i'm going to get diabetes) I want to eat one of these gorgeous concoctions everyday.

I promise I was wearing my sunnies here because it was actually really sunny, i'm not just being a dick x 

SUNGLASSES - Quay Australia / JACKET (of dreams) - Zara / TOP - Primark / BOOTS - old River Island

 

We came back to the beach to sit and watch the sunset (I know, aren't we cute). This is one of my favourite ever views and i'm seriously thinking about moving to Brighton one day. I forgot how happy it makes me, and I'd love to have this feeling everyday.

Taking the time to sit, whether you're on your own, or with company, on a beach or somewhere else that makes you happy is so important. It's not only a fun thing to do, it also does wonders for your mental health!

What also makes me happy, is buying clothes. I have a slight addiction I reckon, but theres nothing like a lil bit of retail therapy, amiright? Brighton has an amazing Topshop in the shopping centre, so I couldn't help myself. After a lil' shop and some more food, we headed back to the train station.

I've decided to make it a goal of mine to go to Brighton whenever possible, especially when the sun is out because it does bring a genuine smile to my face, and why not when it's so close. 

You'll probably catch me on the beach dodging the seagulls all the time in summer! (or in the shopping centre, or eating a cronut, lol)

Lots of love,

Kate x

Plan B Then?

Hello!

I recently dropped out of university, and I've decided to write a lil' (long) post about my experience and why I chose to leave! Hope you enjoy reading x




I still don't know if university is for me, but I do know that where I've been studying for the last 5 months, has made me far from happy. I wasn't going to write about my experience or where I am now, as it's probably one of the biggest curves in my life, in fact, it is the biggest hurdle I've faced and am facing but I wanted my blog to be personal from the start (and where better to start from than the second post ay? ) I've come across other people sharing their experience and it's really helped me, so, if anyone is to actually read this, and also happen to be in a similar situation then, hopefully it may help! (I'm also writing this because I have a lot of spare time right now, life of a uni drop out)

Before I went to university, I decided to take a gap year where I was working full time, and saving up to do Camp America, along with a little bit of travelling. I must admit, the start of my gap year wasn't the most exciting, but I was still happy, and I knew that it was temporary and soon i'd be off, on a plane, in the sun, and then after the summer, i'd go to university, have a great four years, get my degree, do more travelling, and then get myself a job with the degree I studied for. (well, that plan's just turned out to be a load of shit really hasn't it) I really wish it was going the way I hoped it would all go, but unfortunately, my university experience was ruined by a lot of things, some personal, and some in resemblance to Cruella de Vil. 

I was very nervous when I first moved into my university halls, even though i'd just been travelling to America on my own, and met so many different people, university is an environment that doesn't compare. I also don't think I gave myself enough time to adjust as I literally went from sleeping in a cabin and living out of a small suitcase, to freshers week. (also tips for any future freshers, don't go from not drinking all summer, to literally drinking the bar out of tequila... it doesn't end well and you won't ever live it down, sorry mum x) Apart from being nervous, the first maybe two weeks of uni was going pretty well. I was studying Fashion - Buying & Merchandising, which is something I've always been interested in, and at the start I did honestly really enjoy it. However, my anxiety started to really take its toll. I've never been one to suffer with really bad anxiety, but having one panic attack at the start, in front of basically, total strangers, triggered many more. I even started to have panic attacks about having panic attacks and I didn't know how to deal with them. 

Usually, when I'm feeling anxious, I'd go home and just relax, but the house I was living in had me constantly on edge. I don't really have any words to describe it, but, let's just say there was never not a problem. Personally, I don't have the energy to find fault in everything, but, i've learnt that some people do actually thrive off of it (I know, sad right?). This was just adding 'fuel to the fire' and as cringe as it sounds, my room actually became like a safe haven to me, away from the dramas, and stress of my course. I realise it was toxic, and staying in my room actually made me ill, so if anyone is in the same situation, I don't have any advice on where you can go instead, but just go anywhere but your room. 

 Going back to uni after christmas and after being quite ill was daunting, but I went back with a clearer mind and a lil' bit of sassy motivation. I started going to the gym (new year, new me and all that shite) (also trying to make the most of spending £99 on a gym membership, when it could've been vodka money) getting out of my room, and actually going to my lectures. I did feel so much better, like I had my shit together, but I also realised at this time, that this university course wasn't for me. Or at least, it wasn't worth becoming ill and wasting money and time on a degree I probably wouldn't use, and so I've dropped out. 

My family and friends have all said they thought that it looked like I was having a great time from the photos I've posted, but lets be honest i'm not going to upload an insta of me crying in my bedroom alone am I?  Because that was the reality. Don't get me wrong, it hasn't been all bad, i've got lots of good memories from my short time in Manchester, and along with meeting the worst people of my life, i've met the best! (love ya, my Kelly and Michelle  x)

 My confidence and mental health has hit an all time low in result. Being a uni drop out is not fun in the slightest, and i've got a lot to pay off, but I know dropping out is the best decision. It's the first step down the right path. Can't really tell you what plan B is, (if anyone has any ideas, pretty please help a gal out) so for now, until I work it out, I'm going to earn some money and do things I enjoy and hopefully get back to where I was last year. Who knows, maybe i'll end up back at university in the future.
Hope this happens to help someone, like reading others' helped me! I know its nice to feel like you're not alone!

Lots of Love,
Kate x 

Call Me Kate x

Hello! 

I'm Kate, I'm 19, and currently blagging my way through life.
I have a love for art, travel, all things beauty & fashion, food and fitness. (not so much the last one, but I like to try)

Recently, I made a huge decision to leave university, and since starting a blog has been a new years resolution of mine for a good few years, (since 2012 to be exact, which I realise is 5 years ago and shit thats gone fast) I feel like now, 24 days into 2017, is the perfect opportunity.

 My blog is a place to share my opinions, thoughts and adventures, so I hope you enjoy reading!

Lots of love
Kate x