Lorna Cole

I'm not really sure how we're already halfway through the year but here we are! I thought I'd take a look at the plans/goals I wrote in January and have a think about the latter half of 2021. You can read my initial 2021 goals and plans post here ! Goals & Plans I set in January The first goal I shared was to choose a university course and I'm pleased to say I did that and am now really looking forward to starting at The University of Brighton to study Media Studies in September! Going on from this, are the ongoing university preparations but things have definitely progressed! I've sorted my student finance loan and applied for accommodation which I'm currently waiting to hear back about and have got a few things that I'll be taking with me. I'm glad I joined a few university group chats with others starting at Brighton, it's been great getting to know people and it's nice knowing I've connected with some people before moving somewhere ne

You don’t have to wait for a new year to make better decisions, habits or goals but I think it does motivate people to reflect on what they want to do over the next 12 months.  After the Christmas period and when no one really knows what day it is, it can often be a relief when January rolls around! It’s an opportunity to get back into a routine and be a bit more organised again. I took some time to have a think about my goals and plans for 2020 so thought I’d share them here! Creative Arts degree  In late April 2019, I started studying for a Creative Arts open degree (you can read more about it here). I’ve made a lot of progress and am really getting into it now. Obviously studying is something that is a priority and I want to dedicate a lot of time to over the next year so I can continue learning and working my way through the degree. I’ve enjoyed it so far and am looking forward to the upcoming stages!  Regular exercise  Of course, I w

As I don’t want to force a favourites post every month, I thought I’d just do a roundup of things I’ve been liking when I feel like it! As I’ve not posted as regularly I feel like I’ve got a good selection to share today! Travel   As I mentioned in my previous  post , I spent a week away in Northumberland at the end of summer. We were pretty lucky with the weather so managed to spend a couple of days at the beach and did a lot of walking just to spend time outside. We also visited a cove in Dunbar, Scotland that I’d spent a lot of time at whilst on holiday 10 years ago, it brought back a lot of memories! We also went swimming, played mini-golf a couple of times and just explored the surrounding areas. I was able to take a lot of photos because the views were so nice and it was definitely good to get away and visit somewhere new!  Netflix   I’m always watching things on Netflix, a lot of the time its things I love and re-watch but it’s also great to find something ne

Well, it’s definitely been a while, in fact, this is the longest I’ve not posted on here! I wanted to come back with a post talking about what I’ve been up to and why I’ve not posted for a bit.  There isn’t a big reason, I think it’s mostly because I’ve been dedicating a lot of my time to my Creative Arts degree. I actually have to upload my work to a blog and since I’ve been trying to work consistently and maintain that, I ended up neglecting this one sadly!  Another contributing factor is the fact that I wasn’t feeling too inspired with new creative ideas for this blog and didn’t want to write for the sake of it. Also, we all need to take a break sometimes! So, what have I been up to recently? Well as I said, a lot of my time goes into studying. I feel pretty productive and so far it’s going well as I’m making a lot of progress. I’m actually really enjoying learning and developing my knowledge again!  Something I've been trying to improve for a while n

As of today, I've officially been blogging for 2 years which seems so strange to say! I feel like I've shared a fair amount but thought I would do a get to know me better post as it's a bit of fun!  Favourite film?  I can never seem to choose just one favourite but I'm pretty into mystery thriller type films - especially ones with a twist! For instance, I love things like Shutter Island and Inception, anything that keeps you guessing or has an ambiguous ending. I also enjoy a good comedy, one that springs to mind is Hot Fuzz as it also has that twist element.  What is my Zodiac sign and do I agree with it? Well, I was born on March 10th, making me a Pisces. I wouldn’t say I’m overly clued up about horoscopes and astrology, I do find it interesting though! In terms of me relating to the general description of a Pisces, there are some aspects that describe me well for sure. In particular, the creative, charismatic, intuitive and adaptable traits desc

Since I recently turned 20, I feel like a know a fair amount about the sort of person I am now... though I definitely don't have my life figured out by any means! I also find posts that allow you to find more about the blogger interesting so thought I'd share 20 things about me here. I love exploring and travelling - Whether it's a completely different country or even just a new place within somewhere I'm already familiar with, I want to visit as many different places as I can! Learning has always been something I've enjoyed - I actually really liked school but besides that, I just like to learn and expand my knowledge as much as possible. I'm generally a pretty calm and chilled person - Most of the time I'm a very laid back person and don't get easily stressed or angry. I'm a hard worker but also equally good at procrastinating - I always work hard at whatever I do but I would probably get it done much quicker if I didn't procrastinate

I'm not one to make resolutions particularly but I do think it's quite useful to make some goals, though it doesn't necessarily have to be January!  →   Start a Creative Arts degree - This year I plan to begin studying with the OCA, this is part of the University for the Creative Arts but you can do it from home which will allow me to continue working as well! →  Work with more companies - I've had a couple companies reach out to me already this year so I'm really looking forward to working with more brands to create content. → Create a list of book ideas - Writing a book is on my bucket list and although it's not something I plan to do yet, I would like to think of some potential ideas and themes. → Guest posts - I've done a few guest posts previously and would like to do more to build up my portfolio. I'd also like to contribute to places like Buzzfeed since it's a platform I use frequently. → 4000 followers on Twitter - I'm al

As we are well past August now and most of my favourites were related to my holiday (which I've already done a whole  post about), I decided to combine August and September together. There is quite a random mix of things here but isn't that always the case! Also how mad is it that we're already in Autumn!! Place Now I do obviously need to mention my holiday a little, as it was a big favourite for August. Belgium was so lovely, it's the sort of place where you instantly feel at home and like you know your way around - if you know what I mean? Bruges is a great city for amazing architecture, it's sort of like a fairytale city from the past and it's also got a brilliant array of chocolate shops too. I have to say that Belgian beaches are underrated, we were 5 minutes walk away from the beach at Middelkerke and it's so gorgeous, I would really recommend visiting if you get the chance. Music Sorting of linking to my holiday, I made a

I just recently came back from spending a week in Belgium with my family. I'd only visited Belgium on a school trip before so was really looking forward to exploring it a bit more. We stayed in a cottage on the Flemish Coast - in between Middelkerke and Westende. Our accommodation was lovely, especially the garden and I also had a cute little bedroom in the roof! The first few days were fairly relaxed and spent exploring the area, It was lovely to be only a 5-minute walk from the beach and to be walking distance from the two towns. I really enjoyed spending lots of time outside and just appreciating the views of the beach, especially in the evening as I took some gorgeous photos! We also went swimming in the pool, it was freezing but very refreshing and definitely made me want to swim more regularly. I wasn't expecting the weather to be amazing but it was fairly sunny and warm for most of the week, however, we actually went bowling and played crazy golf when the weat

Since we're halfway through the year I thought I'd do some reflecting and wanted to refocus on some goals to work towards for the rest of 2018. I like having something to work towards whether it's more short-term or something that I'd like to improve over time. I've tried to include a range of things so I can target different aspects of my life! Blogging Goals Hit 2000 followers on Twitter - I just hit 1.5k so 2000 is my next goal! I'm really pleased with how my Twitter following is growing as it's my favourite social media and way to connect! Hit 500 followers on Instagram - My blog account is pretty new & I'm still learning to use it for blogging but I hope to reach at least 500 followers. Work with more companies - It's so rewarding when brands contact and want to work with you so I'd love to work with more companies, I've not had much experience of it but have done a couple of reviews! Schedule more posts - It&

March is always a pretty busy time, it's known as the 'birthday month' in our family because between the 1st and 21st, 7 of us have celebrated our birthdays! This means that there is a lot of family time, a lot of presents and a lot of cake which is a pretty good mix - plus there are loads of things I've been loving this month so I'll get started! Weather Something I had to mention in this monthly favourites was the rather strange weather we had! We'd not had any decent snow since 2013 and then we had multiple snow days in March, so I think it's fair to say that Spring was delayed! I actually really like the snow, it's so amazing to look out at, especially when it is untouched! Although I did slip over on the ice, straight on my back...so that wasn't as great! Fashion  This month I have worn my denim jacket constantly, I don't know how I've lived without one for so long! Besides the random snow days, we've definitely had

As you may know from my previous post, it was my birthday recently and as I always enjoy reading what gifts other people received, I thought I would share mine too! As I get older I find it increasingly harder to decide what I actually want so I'm so grateful for everything I did get! Bath Set One of my presents from my sisters was this bath set from the Scandinavian brand Hugg. Little sets like this one are the ideal birthday gift for when you don't want anything in particular and I've never used anything from them so I'm excited to try it out! I also think the packaging is so pretty, it's pretty minimalistic but that's definitely the sort of thing I'm into at the moment. The set contains a 100ml bath soak and body lotion and is only £8 in  Waitrose  at the moment! Diffuser My sisters also gave me a  diffuser  from Fired Earth in the scent Assam and White Cedar. I'd never heard of this brand before but I absolutely love their packaging a

Last Saturday I turned 19 and to celebrate, my boyfriend kindly paid for a trip to London. So on the Friday we morning, we made the journey from our little town to the busy streets of city life. The journey actually went really quickly, (around 2 hours) though we were both very hungry when we got there! We stayed in The Grange St. Pauls hotel which was absolutely gorgeous and I would 100% recommend it to anyone. The room itself was a perfect size - spacious but still felt cosy and the bed was super comfortable, something I was very appreciative after the long day! However my favourite part and one of the reasons I chose this hotel were the leisure facilities. The pool itself was amazing and it was so nice to be able to use it on the Friday afternoon and again on the Saturday morning before we checked out. There was also a jacuzzi, sauna, steam room and a gym, as well as a spa, which you could book various treatments at. Unfortunately we didn't really use too many of these

Being nominated for blogger awards is always such a lovely experience and a great way to support and discover blogs. So a massive thank you to Jess for The Sunshine Blogger Award nomination, please go and give her blog some love and you can check out her post here ! Here are the rules for this award: 1) Thank the lovely blogger that nominated you and of course, provide a link to their blog!  2) Answer the set of 11 questions that they asked you 3) Create 11 new questions and nominate 11 bloggers to answer them 4) And finally, when doing your post make sure you post the rules and add The Sunshine Blogger Award logo! ... And without further ado, my answers to the questions: 1) If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?  I think I'd have to go with pasta as it is one of my favourite foods anyway, plus there are so many variations of it (if that counts!) 2) What is your favourite Disney film of all time and why? Wow, this