And this is how it starts

Earlier this week I took a trip to Cockpit in Leeds with my friend who had a spare ticket to see The 1975. It feels like absolutely ages since I last went to see a band live (think it might have actually been Leeds festival...  very unlike me not seeing anybody live in so long!) so it was nice to have the spark for live music ignited again inside me, especially as Cockpit is such an intimate little venue which usually has a great atmosphere. 

However, despite giving me loads of motivation to find more gigs to go to over the next few months, this particular experience also filled me with a weird feeling that I'm getting OLD. We walked in and were hit with a strange feeling that we'd accidentally wandered into some sort of underage club night, with the girls running around squealing and whispering at each other because the fitty from their school just looked at them.  I think this was largely due to the fact that both support acts had  come from local high schools  and had filled the venue with their school bus groupies. And so a strange thing happened. We became part of that sensible group of old people who stand between the middle and the back of the room, enjoying the music without the risk of some swishy haired 14 year old knocking over your pint as she clambers onto her friend's back. 

And actually, I think I'm ok with that. 

(definitely helped by the fact that with such a young crowd filling up the front half of the room, for once we  had a near perfect view of the stage because none of the kids in front were quite fully grown yet!).

Sex- The 1975

I can't feel anything and its bringing me down

One downside of living in the city centre is the lack of outdoor space to make use of during the snowy days we've been having this week. After seeing post upon post of people's pretty countryside walks with fields of fluffy white snow, I was starting to get frustrated by the lack of open spaces filled with people sledging and making snowmen near where I live. In town, it seems the snow is merely considered an inconvenience affecting commuters still trying to totter to work in their heels (seriously, are these people too 'executive' to consider wellies or boots even just to walk to their office door?!), so in a desperate attempt to FINALLY get out and actually stomp about in the snow a little bit I became the sole person in Leeds City Centre to venture into the nearest park and then wander down the canal just to soak up the beauty of it all. And despite the lack of a playful atmosphere that comes with living near a 'real' park, I must admit that I enjoyed having this tiny little patch of snow that had been virtually untouched before I'd ventured in.

Two Hours- Theme Park

Cos I can't go on, if your love isn't strong

This weekend has been a brilliant one. Yes, there was snow, but that wasn't by any means one of the most memorable parts of the weekend as with the exception of enjoying the satisfaction of the untouched snow making that crunching sound under my wellies (does anyone else love that as much as me?!) as we wandered to various places, we really didn't spend much time in the great outdoors at all!

It was a special weekend because we were finally reunited with one of our lovely friends who'd been off galavanting around the world for a few months (too jealous). True to our form, we celebrated with too much food, a night out (which after a poor effort from the taxi company turned into a night drinking in our pjs whilst playing Singstar...), and just generally spending a lot of time being the silly little souls that we are.

Oh and we went to see Les Mis too. This is pretty much the main reason as to why we didn't really get to see much snow. The cinema dominated our entire afternoon as we'd gone to Cottage Road in Leeds, an incredibly cute little old fashioned cinema with a lovely atmosphere and an added bonus of being insanely cheap compared to the big name cinemas, so old fashioned that they had an interval in the middle of the film. I can't complain about missing the snow for the film though, it lived up to all the hype and was absolutely mesmerising! Inevitably, we then spent the rest of the weekend bursting into song at every possible moment.

Don't save me- Haim

Hail to the bop believe me

Spending half of my weekend in bed seemed to do the trick in making me feel more like a human being and less like a snotmonster, so by Sunday I was right as rain to go for a wander with one of the besties to the woods not far from where she lives. I've decided that in the summer I'm going to make the woods my new best friend because there's an outdoor gym called a 'trim trail' (take a look at the pictures on the website, you'll see me monkeying around...thanks for that one Charlie). My plan isn't to use it to get fit, more like to go with my friends so we can laugh at each other falling off the equipment. 

Afterwards, we took the scenic route home along the canal and the wintery air made the water so still that the reflections were absolutely perfect. I do think this time of year makes for some beautiful, atmospheric photographs, it certainly beats this country's pathetic attempt at 'summer' when the skies are grey and rainy for months on end.

Hail Bop- Django Django

But I came to love you anyway

shirt: Ark, blazer: Topshop, jeans: Topshop, Converse: Schuh

I bought this shirt before Christmas and its become a firm favourite (especially because I can wear it under dresses and jumpers with the collar poking out- always a winner for me!). Also think I've fallen in love with my new Converse. My trusty old black pair are getting a bit too holey and dilapidated to be deemed acceptable footwear now so I decided to put my Christmas money to good use and buy myself these little beauties. In burgundy. Obviously having a wardrobe almost entirely based around the colour wasn't quite enough for me and a bit of oxblood just had to seep into my shoe collection too to keep me happy.

After weeks of avoiding anybody with the slightest sniffle so I didn't have to spend my Christmas holidays in bed with the lurgy, its finally caught me so I've mostly spent the weekend so far slobbing around the flat in my pyjamas and eating unholy amounts of Christmas chocolate. I definitely would have been spending the weekend in exactly the same way even if I was feeling fine but at least I have an excuse now so can't complain too much! 

Hope you're all having an exciting and less snot-filled weekend than me! 

Lonely Boy- The Black Keys

Oh don't get up, I can't see the sunshine

The weather was pretty grim when I was at home, grey grey and more grey. But even the grey and drizzle could stop Ness Gardens (between the Wirral and Chester in case you wondered) from looking pretty. Some of my earliest memories are of visiting this place when I was a toddler, I used to be fascinated by all of the colours and exotic trees and flowers. Its changed a lot since I was a little 'un but is still just as enjoyable... although I don't think I'll ever experience the same amount of joy there as I did when I was about 6 and sledged down a MASSIVE hill in the snow and zoomed straight into a bush. That was a fun day. I'm going to have to go again in the summer to get a bit of a contrast to the wintery colours in these pictures and hopefully have less raindrops on my camera lens (a girl can dream can't she?!). 

You only live once- The Strokes

Falling through high places

Yesterday was one of the most fun-filled Saturdays there ever was. I went to Xscape near Leeds with two of my friends for some jolly snow time where we joined a load of small children on the slopes for a spot of sledging. We decided it was definitely an activity better suited to us 22 year olds than the kids though because we had a quite significant weight advantage helping us along (I knew indulging over Christmas would come in handy sometime!) and unlike most of the people around us we managed not to cry every time we fell off our sledges! Then we spent the rest of the afternoon eating burgers, nachos, doughnuts and lemon drizzle cake. It appears that sledging makes you work up quite an appetite (any excuse). I also took a trip to Urban Outfitters, again on a quest for some cheap jewellery, and somehow this time came home with this new camera. I'm a ridiculous human being.

Then to celebrate the end of the first Saturday of 2013 (here's hoping all Saturdays to follow are equally brilliant!) we cracked open the rum and headed out for the night. The perfect opportunity to give my new dress its first outing. It has a panther on it don'tcha know.

dress: Topshop, socks: Topshop, shoes: New Look

The Wolves- Ben Howard

Tell me what it is that you wanna be

necklace: Urban Outfitters, jacket: Republic, dress: Topshop, converse: Schuh

One of the few shops I can tolerate at sale time is Urban Outfitters, particularly when it comes to rifling through their gorgeous jewellery. However, my mission to find cheap jewellery went a little bit wrong when I found this necklace nestled amongst all of the sale stuff without a sale sticker on it. Giving them the benefit of the doubt that one of the sales advisors had just forgotten to mark this one down I took it to the till to check the price because I didn't particularly want to pay full price for it. But apparently I did actually like it enough to pay £18 because when the girl at the till offered to put it back for me I practically threw my bank card at her shouting "It's ok, I'll buy it anyway". I'm great at sales shopping.

Also, if you haven't heard it being played on Radio 1 this week, then check out the song below by Swim Deep. They'd been floating around for quite a while in 2012 and I've become a little bit obsessed. It looks like they're set for big things this year :)

The Sea- Swim Deep

We turn our hopes to this figure alone

dress: Topshop, necklace: River Island, tights: Gap, socks: Topshop, boots: Office

My room at home is really not great for taking pictures. Especially not when there was only a tiny patch of floor not covered by my gigantic suitcase and numerous other bags of stuff that I was just too lazy to find a real home for. But still, the only part of me that you're missing out on in these photos is my knees, and quite frankly they're not all that interesting to look at anyway. 

I've had this dress for months now and it barely has time to come out of the washing machine wash before its found its way back into my washing basket after being worn yet again. Particularly when  I was at home and had a limited wardrobe, this dress got to go on lots of little outings from my cousin's birthday party to the pub on Christmas eve and countless other places in between. Luckily my Mum constantly seems to have the washing machine going so she could keep up with me and the dress.

I went shopping in Liverpool after Christmas with my Mum to take back a few things and have a little wander. I'm really not a fan of sales shopping in the slightest (I think years of working in Next and being traumatised by the sales there scarred me for life) but I'm pretty proud of myself for finding these boots in Office down to £20, and as my work shoes are currently developing a nice little hole in the toe area I think these were long overdue. Its a good job my Mum's shoelace needed tying so she wandered over to the shoe concessions in Topshop to sit down and sort herself out, otherwise I'd never have found these and would no doubt still be walking into work wearing holey shoes on Monday. 

Hope you all had a lovely New Year and have a great 2013. 

Milk- Theme Park