New year - new experiences. My first ever blog post from my lovely SIII. I wish you all loads of new experiences in 2013. Here are a few pics to get you in the mood.
Housing Survival Guide
Here's something that never got published, may be because this information will hurt the real estate business. Well, no matter what I believe we should all know our rights. So read on for a few tips I can offer from my own struggles.
 |
| Image courtesy of Jeroen van Oostrom at FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
Living in town? Looking for a house to share with your mates next year? Then read on. By now most of us should have settled in our new student accommodation wherever it may be. However, if you are experiencing some issues with your new house or have already started looking for a new student pad for next year, then the following tips are for you.
1. Shop around. With so many student accommodation websites and lettings agents this may seem like a tedious task. But it does pay off to spend some time on finding out what the average market rents for shared houses in different areas are. There are very good deals if you start looking early and are willing to pay a deposit. Alternatively, you can wait until prices drop for a bargain last minute deal just before term starts.
2. Don’t skip viewings. These provide the best opportunity to get down to the nitty gritty of housing matters. Be prepared to ask important questions, such as utilities and maintenance arrangements, and look for causes of concern, especially mould marks and wall cracks which could get worse once you start living there.
3. Read your tenancy agreement carefully. Then read it again. It is possible to be put on a separate agreement even if you are sharing the house with your friends. In this way you will not be liable for any damages caused by others. Pay particular attention to the utilities, communal areas maintenance and landlord’s responsibilities clauses. These will tell you who is responsible for repairs and maintenance and help you avoid any fines.
4. Protect your deposit. Under the Housing Act 2007 all private landlords and/or lettings agents are obliged to protect your deposit in a government approved deposit scheme. This should be done within 14 days of the landlord receiving the deposit and you should receive notification that this has been done. Contact your landlord or lettings agent if you have any questions regarding this as soon as possible so that you won’t have to deal with problems when the time comes for getting your deposit back.
5. Seek help. If you are having any trouble with your accommodation, think you are treated unfairly by your landlord or are unsure of your responsibilities and contract obligations, then speak up! There are a number of people and organisations that you could turn to. The university has appointed several community wardens for popular student housing areas in Loughborough. If you have any questions you can find contact details and advice at www.lboro.ac.uk/services/community-wardens/. There is also a Citizen Advice Bureau in the town centre which can help you with a wide range of housing matters. It also provides expert advice on certain issues by telephone, drop in appointments or at www.citizenadvice.org.uk.
Finally, if you just want to know more or prefer seeking advice online don’t forget to check www.direct.gov.uk’s section on student housing under the Education and Learning tab.
Good luck!
It's All About the Ethics
OK, so what if I haven't been posting for over a month? Who cares right? What? What's that I hear? Are you saying that you've missed my antics?
Jokes aside, I do have a genuine excuse, as always, for not showing up here. Apart from being busy with life and academics (that word definitely sounds more posh than 'uni'), I have dived head first into my university's media centre. You'll hear more about this later though...
Today I want to talk to you about fashion and ethics. As it is one of the busiest shopping periods of the year thanks to Christmas and New Year, it is only right that we take a step back and think.
We are all aware to some extent about the negative impacts of consumerism - the demand for cheap mass produced items has forced retailers to save on ethics. Be it underpaying workers in sweat factories or dumping toxic sludge in our environment, we think we have heard it all.
But there is more to that. I'm not here to tell you about that - although you can read about it in my soon-to-be-published article in Label, which I will upload in my yet-to-be revamped about me page.
I'm here to tell you about the good stuff that's out there. Shopping for presents does not have to be a negative thing. Fashion does not have to be a bad thing either. As established designers and retailers gradually overhaul their ethical frameworks, new 'social entrepreneurs' are setting the industry standards.
Is it all too good to be true? Workers, or rather artisans, designers, directors and consumers all satisfied at once? Well it is very much possible and even one person can make an impact. Take a look at Liz Bohannon's Sseko Designs.
The company employs young Ugandan women during their 9 month gap between high school and university, thus helping them save money for tuition fees and gain skills. How can they be so sure? Sseko Designs put half of their employees' salaries into savings accounts which are only accessible when tuition fees are due. In this way, the youngsters avoid the family and peer pressure of spending the money elsewhere and remaining into a vicious cycle of poverty.
After those 9 months, the girls are free to go on and become professionals in a field of their own choice. They are given an opportunity to earn and save and succeed. To become empowered women. And so they have.
Just like Rose. After having to work at a rock quarry with her parents to pay off her school fees, Rose was determined to continue her education. Thanks to Sseko Designs, she is now studying computer sciences at Makarere University.
There are many others like Rose who have managed to further their education by helping Sseko Designs create unique sandals.
So you see fashion can be ethical. It is just a question of awareness. Do you know of an ethical fashion concept near you? Feel free to share in the comment box below.
P.S.
As mentioned earlier in this post, I am going to revamp the 'About Me' page to include links and files of all the lovely stuff have been up to - online and print articles, videos and possible radio show recordings. So you won't have to miss a thing any more.
Much love x
Social Media Quotes
It is amazing the power a few words can have. Yes, it does sound like a cliché. But it is also very true. How many times have we read or heard something that has made us smile or laugh or just think for a second? Language is a powerful tool and is so deeply ingrained in our DNA that we can’t ignore the reactions it provokes. And what better way to use language than to make someone feel better even if it’s just for a tiny moment of time?
A quick browse through Pinterest’s “Quotes” board can put a smile on your face and inspire you for the rest of the day. A random check of your Facebook newsfeed can lift your mood if you or your friends are ‘fans’ of the myriad of quotes and pictures pages. And then there is Twitter. From the funny to the wise, the quotes flooding the microblogging site can brighten your day, 140 characters at a time.
Although these quotes won’t find a solution to your problems (yes, everybody has problems) and may not lift you out of depression, they will provide a break of life’s trials and tribulations, albeit a short one.
So go ahead, smile and be inspired!
P is for Priority
Nobody knows exactly who they want to become or what they want to do in the next phase of their life. But everyone knows what needs to be done now - today, tomorrow, this week, this month... We all have something that needs to be done now or in the near future. Some of us have more than others, but there is always something to be done.
Sometimes we may feel inundated with tasks, at other times we need to choose which tasks to complete simply because we don't have the resources to do more than one thing. We've all been there, we've all been told something or another related to time management. But things don't always work out the way we want them to. And then we get busy catching up on things that need to be done.
All of this begs the question: do we just spend our lives getting things done? Isn't there more to life than just finishing that project? There certainly is! But to discover that something we need more than time management. We need to be realistic and make some choices.
Are you involved in too many things? Are your commitments keeping you away from something you truly love and enjoy doing? Is your diary or schedule constantly full, despite excellent time management? Well then may be it's time to re-evaluate your priorities.
Now I'm sure we all know how to prioritise. You just dedicate more time and energy to some things more than others. Simple right? But how do you choose what to prioritise? Is it just a matter of what needs to be done urgently? Possibly, but we also need to think about our long term goals and dreams.
Are your commitments going to help you reach your goals and dreams? Do they make you happy or do they just seem like an effort? It's alright to let go. We are not superhuman and can't do everything. That's why we need to decide what is truly deserving of our time and energy. All I'm trying to say is:
The end of an Era
Life is a struggle. We've heard that many times and we've said that quite a few times ourselves. It's a struggle because of the daily challenges we have to face (starting with the alarm clock) and the occasional tragedy that crosses our paths.
What constitutes as a tragedy for some may not for others. Nonetheless, we all like to think we have encountered some sort of a tragedy in our life, be it of the humorous or more sombre type. And usually a tragedy involves the ending of something - a stage in life (yes, the shift from a young adult to just an 'adult' or even worse an 'elderly' is mourned by many), a prolonged stay in a certain place (yes, I still miss Australia!), a relationship, a life of a loved one... You know what they say: All good things come to an end.
But that doesn't make it any easier to face this ever eminent end and open a new chapter. At first we protest. We deny the fact that it is over and refuse to let go. We desperately try to reconnect, to tie the two ends together. It is very impressive how stubborn and selfish human nature can be at this point.
Then we decide to man up and act like we don't care. But we still do care, we've just lost all hope of evading 'the end'. The coming to terms with the fact that there is no way back (at least in the immediate future) is painful. So we pity ourselves and dig in that big tub of chocolate ice cream or whatever is your comfort treat.
Once we have realised that we look terrible, that the end is really the end and that we have missed on plenty of happy days we finally take a close look deep within ourselves. And - surprise! - the pain is no longer brain numbing, the hopelessness has evaporated and we are actually ready to start that new chapter. We have managed to detach ourselves from 'the end'. We have learned our lessons. We are ready to live once again.
xo xo
DIY dress
Once upon a time I decided to make my own dress. That was more than 2 years ago, when me and a couple of friends decided to make our own clothes. Off we went to Dubai's and Sharjah's famous souks in search of materials. After looking at countless textiles of various colours and prints I fell in love with this:
Armed with all I needed I went home and started measuring myself, the fabric and drawing cutting lines. With scissors in hand I bravely cut out a rough outline of the dress (seriously what was I thinking?). Then came the difficult bit - stitching the dress together. First of all, although the fabric is of the non-creasing, perfectly falling types, it was also elastic and 100% synthetic. How do you stitch that without a sawing machine? Well, in the end I took a few shots at it and stuffed the half done dress in a bag in my closet.
Fast forward to summer 2012, when my grandmother made the interesting discovery of the unfinished dress. She fell in love with the fabric too and took it back to Bulgaria with her. There we went to the tailor who, after grimacing at the type of textile she had to deal with (apparently it was hard to stitch even with a sawing machine), put the whole thing together. She added the side slits and fitted it at the waist and voila! This is the finished product:
It definitely turned out very beautiful and unique. I've received plenty of compliments and enquiries about it. Although I don't plan on becoming a designer myself, it is good to see something nice came out of it!
P.S.
Feel free to share your DIY stories in the comment box below :)
Organic 101
It's an organic world these days. Everywhere we turn we see the word organic staring right back at us. Organic food, organic make-up, organic cotton clothes... There's even an organic resort in Malaysia (Surprised? Google it). The media, doing their duty for the good of society, have inundated us with tonnes of information and conflicting research on the organic products industry, which is growing rapidly despite the global economic roller-coaster (take for example the US where the industry grew from $1 billion in 1990 to $31.5 billion in 2011 and the UK where 8 in 10 households (83%) bought organic produce in 2011). In fact, the industry has become so big that people, like my friend Silvia, have decided to research the industry as part of their dissertations. So what is all the buzz about?
What is organic produce?
To be classified as organic, products need to be made using methods which do not involve pesticides, chemical fertilisers or food additives. Instead producers employ methods like crop rotation and rely on biological diversity in the field to disrupt pests and keep the soil fertile. This, it is said, results in better tasting food and products which cause less damage to the environment.
Why buy organic?
For starters, organic food products avoid the potentially adverse health effects of conventional food production which uses pesticides and chemicals that could cause cancer and hormonal imbalances. What's more, organic farming causes plants to activate their own defence mechanisms and hence produce more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. That means organic foods, and in particular organic fruits and vegetables, have a higher level of nutrients and a healthier you.
When it comes to other organic products, such as make up and clothes, it still pays to go organic. For instance, it has been found that 60% of what we put on our skin gets absorbed into our bloodstream. Many chemicals used in make up and skin care products are not properly tested and can cause allergic reactions and skin rashes due to their toxicity. And of course, by buying organic you would be reducing your carbon footprint and doing your bit for the environment.
How to shop organic?
Shopping organic doesn't come cheap (costing 20 to 100 percent more than conventional food) and that is because of the higher costs of natural fertilisers, better living conditions for livestock and higher loss of crops. Therefore, it is good to be aware of which products should be on top of your organic shopping list. The highest priority should be given to foods that are highest in pesticides - think fruits and vegetables such as apples and strawberries and livestock products like meat, milk, yoghurt and eggs. It is also good to invest in organic or all natural make up and skin care products.
However, not everything has to be organic. The Environmental Working Group's "Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce" lists conventional food products that are lowest in pesticides, such as mangoes and avocados (www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary). Personally, I would put other products such as organic cotton clothes in this category too, especially for those on a budget.
So now that we've got organic's basics covered, what do you, dear reader, think of it? I hear some of you say: "This is another way for modern capitalists to make more money out of traditional farming practices which are still used in some parts of the world due to necessity". Indeed, organic products seem to be part of modern society's paradox of life - we're so advanced that we feel the need to go back to basics, back to 'nature'.
Well, others would say the organic farming does not mean going ‘back’ to traditional methods, preferring to describe organic production as the combination of the best of these traditional methods with modern scientific knowledge. It is part of the progress and evolution of modern society - we've achieved a lot, now it's time to take care of our own well-being and that of the environment we live in.
P.S.
Want to know more? Check out http://www.organic-world.net and http://www.infonet-biovision.org/
It's your choice
Life is not difficult. The human body and mind are built for survival. These two little wonders can withstand injury, trauma, shock and pain. They tell us what to do in order to remain alive and even have their own 'survival mode'. If you don't believe me go and Google it or ask your medical student friend or whatever.
If, by now, you are wondering whether this is a joke or I have been watching too much of Grey's Anatomy, the latter one is closer to the truth. Courtesy of my very dear friend and house mate, I have dived into Seattle Grace Hospital's world of medicine head first (by that I mean watching countless episodes in a day).
As I was saying... We, mere mortals, are survivors. Not because life is hard, no. We get on with life pretty well, if you ask me, no matter what it throws at us. The real difficulty lies in deciding what we want to do and who we want to become. We don't like being told what to do or who we can be. Oh no, we don't like all those institutions and people trying to take away our freedom.
We want to keep that freedom to ourselves, even if we don't know what we want to do with it. Here's the difficult part - because we are, supposedly, free human beings we can't blame anyone or anything for our indecisiveness, mistakes and failures. We just have to learn to hold our heads up high and accept the mistakes we make.
And most importantly not to make the same mistake twice (now that's just plain stupid).
x
My favourite trend
Needless to say, university has gotten the better part of me and I haven't been posting for a while. Today, I would like to share with you my work that was supposed to be published in a magazine this month had things not fallen through:
SPORT LUXE
With the London 2012 Olympics fever in full swing, fashion’s seriously polished take on sporty staples is a winner
 |
| Littlewoods.com |
 |
| River Island |
 |
| Topshop |
 |
| Primark |
 |
| H&M |
- This trend fuses hi-tech performance fabrics with feminine lines and straight cuts.
- Mix and match from a palette of blues and greens with splashes of pink, orange and yellow.
- Or stick to monochrome colours for an air of evening elegance.
- To get that urban edge add layers of light fabrics and plastic accessories.
 |
| River Island |
 |
| Topshop |
 |
| Asos |
 |
| Next |
To be honest, I quite like this trend because it is comfy and colourful. Just so 'me'. I'm sure you'll find loads of clothes and accessories that fit this trend across many stores, and most probably in your closet too! So let's embrace it, everyone in their own way because fashion IS about individual uniqueness.
Sporting-ly yours,
Healthy Living
Have you started loving your body yet? Following my post about appreciating our lovely figures, which you can read about here, I think it is only appropriate to give you some facts and tips which will make your body love you too!
 |
| Image by Suat Eman © |
- Sugar is your number one enemy! Why? Because it helps the body convert carbs into fat (and because sugars themselves are made up of carbs). And I'm not just talking about the usual sugary stuff. Processed foods, such as white bread and toast cheese slices, are high in sugars too. Of course, the body needs sugar but you can get this in the form of sucrose from fresh and dried fruits and in the form of lactose from milk and other dairy products. So there's no need for cake and lollies (except the occasional treat that is :) )
- Exercising is vital to your mental and physical well-being. However, juts because you worked up a sweat in the gym (or on the field) does not mean you can indulge in fatty and sugary foods. For exercise to have any positive effect, you need to manage your calorie intake carefully.
 |
| Image by Sayan Samana © |
- Sure the body loses loads of vitamins and minerals during exercise, but gulping down Lucozade or any other sports drink is not doing you any favours. Such drinks are loaded with sugar (remember, your number one enemy?!). Research has proved that sports drinks are only useful to athletes who train more than 90 minutes per day, everyday. If you train less than that you should not drink it. Instead, make your own recovery drink at home by adding a pinch of salt and flour to a glass of water. All three of these contain vital minerals and electrolytes which are lost during exercise. Add to that plenty of fruits and veggies and you can replenish almost all of your vitamins and minerals.
- An interesting and disappointing fact - the thinner you are the less calories you burn. Basically, if you put two people, one heavy and one light, through the same intense work out the heavier person will burn more calories than the lighter one. Not fair, I know. But on the up side, leaner people with more muscle mass burn more calories when they are not doing any physical activity.
 |
| Image by Glenn Jenkinson © |
- Finally, I would like to recommend to everyone NOT to follow any 'one-size-fits-all' diets. Whether you are trying to lose weight or just be healthier it is very important to understand that each person is different. Design your own diet by balancing foods that you simply can't live without with foods full of good nutrients. And you can even have one cheat day in the week when you allow yourself some small treats - this will stop you from binge eating at the end of your diet plan.
 |
| Image by nixxphotography © |
Sports drinks research: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3806/The-best-sports-drinks.html
Calories burnt during exercise: http://www.livestrong.com/article/525626-does-a-heavier-person-use-more-calories-than-a-thin-person-while-exercising/
Chanel nails
This morning I remembered that I was in possession of a small luxury - a Pearl Drop Chanel nail polish my mum gave me a couple of months ago. I also remembered fellow blogger Maria's fascination with the brand's Peridot colour about which you can read here. With this in mind I decided to give it a try, after all I'm not a big nail polish fan.
Surprisingly all went well. Despite my clumsiness and tendency to pain my whole fingers, application was fairly easy. The polish dried so fast I didn't even have the chance to mess it up (that's what happens usually). The colour is lovely. Fits well with the minimalist, futuristic metallics trends. It is subtle, yet elegant. A worthwhile investment.
What's your favourite nail polish? Drop your comments below :)
Love Your Body
Love your body. From this very moment onwards promise yourself that you will love your body despite what life (and other people) might throw at you.
In this day and age, we often tend to overlook our own well-being as we are simply too busy dealing with 'life'. And when we do manage to find some time for ourselves, it's only to criticise our imperfections. Tell me, when you looked in the mirror today did you compliment yourself? Or did you just notice all those little flaws of yours?
Have we ever thought how much we punish our bodies? Eating and exercising too much or too little do take their toll, you know. And what about those special drinks and ciggies? The list could go on... My point is we all have our guilty pleasures. And that's fine, but our health should not be paying the price.
I know, it's very easy to say it - it's much harder to practice what you preach, especially with all those negative influences like the media, peer and social pressures and temptations. We can point fingers left, right and centre. Yet, it's also easy to be angry and disappointed with ourselves (but not do anything about improving our situation).
Do not despair! There is always a starting point. And guess what? That starting point is YOU! Here are a few pieces of advice so that you can start loving your body ASAP:
1. Next time you look in the mirror tell yourself you look great. Besides, most imperfections can be fixed with a little bit of extra attention.
2. No extremes! Everything (well almost everything) is good in moderation.
3. Don't expect immediate improvements. You know the saying: good things come to those who wait (and stick with it!).
Well give it a try and let me know how it goes. Just think of it a lifestyle change and a gift for yourself. Because, trust me, you'll feel great. And y'all know beauty comes from within.
.jpg)
Inspirationally yours,
Miranda x
Big Hair
So, yesterday I was sitting around playing with my hair and this is what came out of it:
It is sort of a cross between the exaggerated height and texture (Ã la Brigitte Bardot) seen at the Mulberry s/s 2012 show and the looped under pony tail (or so I would like to think). Curls, volume and up dos are currently dominating the catwalks. Luckily I am blessed with curly locks, which make embracing these hair trends fairly easy.
Whether you've got curly tresses or poker straight hair you can achieve this look easily. Well, first you might want to curl your hair - tongs and perms are back in vogue this season. After that, follow these simple steps:
1. Tie hair up in a high pony tail and separate a lock of hair.
2. Wrap the lock twice or more around the loose hair of the pony tail.
3. Hook your finger under the top of a bobby pin and slide it in catching the loose strand first and the centre of the bottom end of the pony tail after that.
4. Make sure the pin is secured tightly and not visible (somewhat lost in your hair). And you should end up with something like this:
OK, so it may not be your every day look, but it is a funky way to spice up that pony tail and have a bit of fun! At least that's what I think. The question is what do you?
Post your comments and questions below and let me know how it goes.
:)
The return of the lost child
No, I have not abandoned this blog yet!
And yes, I should be scolded for going off the radar for so long. But Benjamin
Franklin once said: "Either write something worth reading or do something
worth writing". Now, since I haven't been doing anything much lately,
apart from dealing with giant university workloads and trying to find out
whether I am depressed or not (in medical terms I'm not quite there yet), I
haven't been able to find the inspiration to write.
In fact, over this period I sort of
realised that I don't really like to write, well unless I'm super-duper
motivated to do so. It's always been a 'chore'. I have also realised that I
don't quite like the career path I'm taking and the university I am studying
at. Maybe I should suck it up and get on with it, maybe I should rebrand my
blog, maybe I should just quit. Here, ladies and gentlemen, you meet the ugly
face of my indecisiveness.
Coming back to this blog, I actually
wanted to have different sections - fashion, current affairs, education,
lifestyle, etc. - so that I can write about whatever came across my
mind as particularly interesting. However, I haven't been able to figure
out a way to divide my blog into several sections or pages... So whilst I do
that, I'll be posting here, hopefully not once in a blue moon, a random array
of posts.
Enough said.
P.S.
Please, please, please comment below. Any ideas and
opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.Updates
OK so it is taking longer than usual to revamp my blog, but as a rookie I think I'm allowed some extra time :).
So, in order to keep things flowing I wanted to share with you a few interesting things that I have come across lately:
- Women better at finance than their male counterparts? A recent newspaper article cited research that women were naturally predisposed to handle money - they do their homework (read: research), are more realistic and make more money. Why, you may wonder. It's because women are more patient, avoid risks and pay more attention to detail. Who runs the world? Girls!
- Moving forward to the downright outrageous - Twitter has introduced a country-specific censorship policy. Yes, it's old news for the Twitterati, but I still can't get over it. What happened to freedom of speech? To top that up the US Government has launched SOPA and PIPA which also aim to control cyberspace. Don't they get it - it's the 21st century in which people know what they want and how to get it. The whizz kids will find a way to get around these restrictions in no time.
- And to finish off on a lighter note, here's some new UK talent you might want to please your ears with:
That's it for now folks. I'll try my best to finish with the renovations here before I head back to UK.
Snowing-ly yours,
Miranda
Times of change
Modern and ancient great thinkers and philosophers stated that change is the only constant in life (apart from death). It's a funny paradox isn't it? Nothing remains the same and the only thing that is guaranteed is change! Not one thing can escape the certainty of change...
Well you get my drift. I have thought long and hard for the past couple of weeks and have decided to slightly modify my blog. Fashion will no longer be the main focus here. Instead I'll be writing more opinion pieces on funny, bizarre and downright outrageous things I encounter in my daily life... and of course a bit of fashion.
After all blogging is what you make of it. Some people post many times a day, others once a month... Some use their blogs as a source of money, others as an emotional outlet. Why am I blogging? Well, I haven't quite figured it out myself...
So why don't you join me on the journey of discovery... There's nothing to lose. Just subscribe to my posts or follow me on Twitter (@miranda2x0x) to get the latest posts.
Bon Voyage!
Tribal times 2
To continue from where I left off in my last post, I wanted to share with you how I'll be rocking the popular tribal/artisan/print trend (which I'm totally loving at the moment!). Here's what I found in my closet:
And you, dear reader, how will you be rocking this trend? Let me know in a comment below :).
P.S.
It's a new year and many people are starting new chapters in their lives. Is it time for this blog to turn over a new leaf and get redefined. Maybe. May be not. You'll find out in the next post.
xo
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)