44 Week Book Mission

I've gone through 'Top 100' lists from 2009-2011 and picked out the novels that appealed to me the most; so I've set myself a bit of a mission: Read the follow 22 books by 17th April 2012:

• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
• 1984 - George Orwell
• Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
• Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
• Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
• Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
• A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
• Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - John le Carre
• Breakfast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote
• Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
• Animal Farm - George Orwell
• Atonement - Ian McEwan
• The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
• The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
• Hamlet - William Shakespeare
• A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
• To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
• Little Bee - Chris Cleave
• In Cold Blood - Truman Capote
• True History of the Kelly Gang - Peter Carey

I will post my verdict on all the books as and when I've read them. I'm quite a slow reader so fingers crossed 2 weeks per book, along side my college work and social life is enough!
The last two books on my list are unfortunately compulsory and part of my English combined AS-Level so will be the first two books I read. After that I hope to read 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee as dear old mother dearest has bought it for me. The challenge should be made easier if I get a Kindle for Christmas. 
Peace out ♥

Inspired: Colin Dodgson, Photographer

I'm a huge fan of Colin's photography and his 'Friday I'm In Love' shoot has captivated me. It's a really tasteful view on a lustful love that consumes the late teens - early twenties in our modern society. It's sexy in a raw, rough and tumble fashion and real tribute to "hipster". Also included is an interview with the models Stella Greenspan and Cole Muhr.

Here's a link to the blog, also on Blogger: http://contributingeditor.blogspot.com/2009/05/friday-im-in-love.html

Surprising things that make you sexy

I got this article from Yahoo and found it particularly interesting... although I'm not going to let anyone see my morning face any time soon! However, I do have a cold coming on.


"Miniskirts and sixpacks make us blush and giggle, but are they really sexy? 

Leave those stereotypical badges of hotness to movie stars and glamour models – real sexiness is far more subtle and distinctive.  You may be surprised to find out which things your partner, your date or that attractive stranger find sexy about you. Your sexiest features actually tend to be the ones that are most intrinsic to you. This is why confidence is attractive – confident people know that their quirks are the sexiest things about them. Read on to find out why you're sexier than you realised. If you feel more confident as a result, you'll be irresistible! 

1. Your ever-so-slightly obsessive hobby  
One of the reason that sixpacks and miniskirts are not as sexy as you might think is that they tend to be associated with a lack of brain power. If your main hobby is lifting weights, that doesn't leave much time for the kind of hobbies that involve your brain and make you a more interesting person – and those are the kind of hobbies that make you truly sexy.  There's something incredibly sexy about people who have a slightly unhinged interest in something creative, the more unexpected the better. It signals intellect, commitment and independence. Show me a man who goes home from work to spend the evening baking bread from scratch, and I'll show you 10,000 women who want to have his babies. 

2. Your glasses  

The writer Dorothy Parker was a wise old bird when it came to the rules of attraction, but she once got it very, very wrong. “Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses...” oh Dorothy, who on earth were these men? Certainly not any that we've ever met. Men and women love a good pair of specs, especially on someone who doesn't wear them all the time.   According to researchers at the University of Stockholm, it's for the most predictable of reasons: they make you look intelligent, and therefore more likely to provide mental stimulation. Glasses may not turn you into a witty conversationalist, but they make your date or partner subconsciously think that you are, and that's what counts. 

3. Your morning face  

You look dog rough in the morning, right? Well, not really. You may not be in an ideal state for a job interview, but you're certainly not unattractive. Your bare skin and unpolished demeanour are extremely sexy because they represent you at your rawest. Especially if you sleep in your birthday suit. To your partner, this is the “you” that only he or she gets to see – and that is deeply sexy in itself. 

4. Your love handles  

There are few things more depressing and unsexy than a person who hates their body. A lover who doesn't want to be seen naked or touched on the bum or belly “because I'm fat” is never going to be a good lover. Sexiness is about embracing your imperfections and enjoying your body – not least because it makes your partner or date feel better about their own love handles. Take pleasure in your own shape, and other people will too.

 5. Your 'flu voice'  

Beautiful faces cannot reach the parts that sexy voices can. There's something about a well-modulated, fluent speaking voice that can hook a potential partner from “hello” - even if they haven't a clue what you look like. The sexiest voices of all have a pitch slightly deeper than average, because they resound with a warmth and sensuality that is extremely pleasing to the ear. You know the deeper, huskier voice that you get when you've had a cold? Yep, that one.  This husky voice comes from deep in your chest, and that's how people with naturally deep voices tend to speak. Squeaky voices, by contrast, are powered by the throat or nose. When ex-PM Margaret Thatcher had voice coaching to improve her tone, she was taught to breathe from her chest – and suddenly the men in Parliament sat up and listened."

My Budget Bedroom.

Oh what I wouldn't give for a bedroom like this:

...However being your average jobless, money-less teen with an income of £15/month pocket money. I have no chance in Hölle of affording Pierre Frey toile de jouy wallpaper and Peter Jones bedding- and why have to?
The countries underage population is suffering from a desire to have everything to perfection. The theory that one's bedroom is yet another 'thing' that defines who you are in this materialistic world. Even though the only people to see it are your best friends and occasional boyfriend (who will be least interested in whether you picked the french rose or white lavender paint, and more interested in whether or not the floor under your bed creeks).
I'm not saying that how one's bedroom looks is unimportant- of course it is. Your bedroom is your sanctuary, your whole life in items collected into four walls of your own taste. It's a big deal. But surely there are cheaper ways of going about it?!
In fact, no question required, because there ARE cheaper ways of going about the perfect bedroom, and I'm going to prove it by getting as close to my dream bedroom as possible; using cheaper products and re-using some items I already have.
My Budget Bedroom.

Excusing the mess, my bedroom is great. The walls are 3D spots painted cream and I've collected such 'nick-nacks' on/round/hanging from my shelves. Mismatch leather and wood and an old green carpet which has definitely seen better days (pre-straighteners). My bed is famous amongst my friends for being the comfiest bed they've slept in.
My bedroom is great- but it needs updating.


The Mission: My Budget Bedroom


Shopping List:
Wallpaper
Lamp
Bed covers
Paint
Full-length mirror

Items to Re-use:
Bed
Wardrobe
Wall shelves
Writing desk
Bed side table

Comparing Prices:

Laura Ashley Toile Wallpaper
£19.50/roll

Pierre Frey Toile Wallpaper
~£50/roll

B&Q Classic Table Lamp
£27.98

Jane Churchill Lamp
~£65

Jigsaw at John Lewis
Newquay Stripes
£105 (pillow cases not included)

Red Striped Jaquard Duvet Cover
and Pillow Cases
£70

So it's time to start decorating!! Peace out ♥