How to survive revision.

Spring break, as the Americans call it, is a time for eating too much chocolate (it's Easter, don't judge) and relaxing in the almost warm weather here in the UK.

However, due to the gift of GCSEs we are all given subjects to learn and revise! It's all in the name of a better education therefore better opportunities in life...I know, in English that means getting a JOB. Yawn.

I know this is a painful time, one which many before you and I have not made through. I mean, people can die from too much revision, they didn't put that in the textbook did they, huh?

But don't worry too much, I'm here.

So, it's important to have breaks. REALLY important. (death risk) You can have breaks every 30 mins, 40 mins or every 15 mins if that works best for you.

for example,
History: 9-9:30
Drama: 9:40-10:10
Chemistry: 10:20-10:50
etc.

You could spend this break checking Facebook/Tumblr/Twitter or just surfing the web, but it really helps to get your brain working if you do something active...

I have only put 10 minute breaks in the example, but even then, you could take a walk around the garden or even just stand outside to get some fresh air. When you are inside with a book all day, you need fresh air to keep the brain moving and working.

Food is also really important. Obviously, you should know that from Biology...

I know, I'm starting to sound like a GCP textbook but healthy food is a must during revision. You can eat loads of greens, like apples, spinach etc because they contain vitamins and antioxidants that help your brain work.

 

But, you also need treats. Yes, I mean all those bad things you haven't been allowing yourself to eat. Get the oreos and peanut butter out, the chocolate and marshmallows and yes, bake that cake.

 

 

 

Excerise. It is proven that moving around and getting your heart rate up, helps with absorbing

'academic material'. Don't push yourself to the point where you hurt yourself, but go for gentle run or long walk with the dog.

 

 

 

The last and final bit of advise that will sounds silly to you, clever people. Actually revise. Don't read the book with headphones blasting if the you're singing along to the lyrics instead of reading the book. Take the time you've been given and use it. You'll regret not using it in August when you get those results and you are filled with that nagging feeling: you know you could've done better.

 

Don't stress too much, stay active, eat properly and get proper sleep. Then in the summer...you can really let loose!

Love. Huh?

According to commerical companies, Valentine's Day is fast approaching us. It is a time to celebrate that special person in your life and dedicate a whole day to your love. Well at least in schools it's about anonymously leaving a note in someone's locker, if you can't face the idea of telling them who you are and why you like/love them. I know, don't you miss the joys of school?

There are many times of love.

There is the type that leaves you with that warm fuzzy feeling, where for some reason, YOU. JUST. CAN'T. STOP. SMILING.

There is the kind you share with your mother.

The kind you share with your father and siblings etc.

The kind you share with friends.

But then there are some kinds that are undefinable. For example, is there such a thing as love at first sight? Can you fall in love with someone you met over the Internet and have never physically met? Is it possible to fall in love with a place because it reminds you of a time or a person or a thing?

Anyway, I think it's time we all remember that I'm 16 and I'm not speaking from experience, but I think the best kind of love is the one that we all dream about when we were young. You know the one I mean. The one where you can be as stupid as you want and they'll love you. You can wear that dress that is a liiittle too small and they'll be proud stand by you.

Love is the only thing that can withstand the time. age and culture. Cool, eh?

I wrote a poem, because, you know, I was in a creative mood:

Love is a chemical reaction.
Love is an illusion of fantasists.
It is a game we play to fill time.
It is the constant epiphany of dreamers.
To me it is water in a starved desert.
To me it is the face left under makeup masks.
To some it is the heat felt in an exotic place.
To some it is Everest to daunting to climb.
To a politician, it is the dream of No.10,
To an artist the pencil to draw with,
To a student the books to study,
To a child the security of a mother's embrace.
It is the gift of pain and suffering,
Vanity and happiness all in one.
And being able to see and feel the difference.
Love is what turns this world.
Or maybe gravity is...

My top 10 romantic songs:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 OK well, after much work, the link to my new favourite song doesn't work...so if you're curious, look up Allison Piccioni 'I'm Not Going Anywhere' on SoundCloud. Enjoy...

 

Txx

I got some headshots done...time to be serious. kinda

 

 

Wear Sunscreen by Mary Schmich

A friend showed me this and thought you'd appreciate it.

Txx

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

January

So, January is a nice month. The good and the bad points of the month cancel each other out, so it's hard to have proper opinion. January reminds me of exams and stress and all the built up anger over having to bring books home from school during the Christmas holidays, then the guilt you feel coming back to school and having not opened these heavy books you lugged home.

But, it's the beginning of a new year, promising to be different to the last and along with these annual promises you pledge a resolution- one different from last year...

Each year this happens to me, I decide on something and then after hearing other people's I think I can't be bothered with mine and so, rather embarrassingly, I end up with the same one. Each year.

Not anymore! This year....I have decided...to be more optimistic and hopeful. To try everything that is offered to me. To go for what I really want and not stop until every ounce of energy is gone.

 

Ok, a bit melodramatic, but you get the point. I think all the excitement of the snow has gone to my head.

GCSE science modules this week, kill me now. Anyways, enough of me, what's your week look like? Would love to hear your new year resolutions...and if you stick to them!

T xx

C's 18th

I went to London for a week. It was great to see old friends, shopping and idly sipping coffee in Notting Hill at ridiculous times; such times in my normal life I would be sleeping or in period 5 at school. It was the longest I'd ever been in London without a member of my family. Okay, it was only a week, but I felt grown up.

London is an amazing city, full of diversity and life. Buut there was one particular reason I was over excited...C's 18th bash.

It was an incredibly high profile event at school. Facebook invitations were sent out. Girly screams exploded from 6th form rooms at the excitement of these invitations, it was all very exclusive and glamorous. So naturally I was so very honoured to be the only one in my year group invited to such an event!

I thought I'd let you in on what happens behind closed doors...

It was held at the Carlton Club in London. C looked amaazing, of course.

 

 

C and her girlies

 

 

 

 

The setting was amazing as was the company. There was a champagne reception followed by a too yummy for words supper of 6 courses!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The birthday cake was verrrryyy popular.

 

 

H, L and T looking lovely.

 

After the champagne reception and supper we headed downstairs for some calorie burning cardio dancing. Having a great time in other words.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B looking glamorous.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those who were feeling lucky took a chance or two in the games room...

 

 

 

We danced until 1am and our feet were throbbing. It was a night I'll remember forever.

 

Fashion and all that.

They say a woman's fashion sense says the more about her than any other exterior indicator. From a young age pictures of airbrushed models and images of the ideal woman are everywhere and anywhere we look. Many of us will never be as glamorous as Audrey Hepburn, we may not be blessed with original and iconic features and the chances of all of us having a body like Miranda Kerr are unlikely to say the least. This does NOT mean that we are not beautiful and that women don't whisper to one another wishing they had what we have when we walk into a room.

As a woman, we have so many personas, we can be sophisticated and girly:

 

 

 

Or minilalistic:

 

 

 

 

the rock chick:

 

 

 

 

The festival, hippie goer:

 

 

 

 

Or the beach babe:

 

 

 

 

 

Whenever I feel as though I am losing my style and what makes me who I am I just think:

 



 

velvet revolution

 

 

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