.

2/ thomthomthom cartoon

3/ Francis Chan from Multiple.

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4/ Baby doodles from Adele Enersen.

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5/ The glamorous life of Dita.

I love love love this perfume! So despite the shop assistant telling me there is actual poison in it (like, what now, how can that work?), and that I actually googled what Lady Gaga wanted to put in it (don’t look, its gross) I still tried it. I smells good and it is black in the bottle but clear when sprayed on your skin. The smell is subtle and changes throughout the day. My new favourite thing.

2/ Anna Karenina

We watched it in a tiny cinema screen with six old age pensioners and despite being warned that it was rubbish I really enjoyed it. The story basically follows a married woman as she embarks on an affair with a young man. Forbidden love may be the main story here but true love is depicted in some really beautiful asides – with Anna husband, her son, Kitty and Levin. I’m sure that there is much more of a plot in the book (I haven’t read it yet, tut tut), it was the backgrounds and scenery changes that captured my attention. The costumes were lavish and made me want to get all my fur collar coats out.

3/ The Kindle.

I love books, and I will still buy books but I have been really impressed by the new Kindles. Waterstones are now stocking them and you can go in an have a go on them. I always thought there was no point in getting one if you could afford an i-pad but I may be wavering a little.

4/ Stew.

It is wintery out there and i haven’t had stew in a long time. That first bowl of the season was ridiculously amazing.

5/ Skyfall

Best Bond Ever. That will be all.

4. Read more.

7. Do something that scares me.

Finally applied and got into a little course at Belfast Bible College.

17. Make more friends.

& my course is full of many lovely people.

21. Learn how to play the guitar properly again.

I have sore fingertips to prove it.

28. Start drinking coffee.

Much to my husbands delight I am now officially a coffee drinker.

1. Girl worker at lunch also absorbing California sunshine, Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, Calif. (LOC), 2. Stijgende koffieprijs, buurtwinkel / Surprised by the price increase of coffee, 3. Koffiedrinken in de woestijn / Drinking coffee in the desert, 4. Marquis Coffee Shop, 5. Photograph of Coffee Break at National Archives and Records Service (NARS) Conference in the Late 1970s, 6. Stewardess schenkt koffie op een vlucht naar Rome / Stewardess serves coffee on a flight to Rome

I am ecstatic to say that this September I am actually heading back to college for a day a week! I cannot wait to get started and I can already feel my inner quirky student kicking in!

Lets see, I need . . . .

one / a new schoolbag

from Next.

from Accessorize.

two / Some new notebooks

from Liberty

three / A new skin for my i-pad

from V&A museum shop

four / Some new pencils

from Anthropology.

five / A nice cosy scarf

from Fairstore on Esty.

one / Three huge paper lanterns make an incredible impact on this minimalist space.

two / Mixing muted comfy furnishing with a black leather armchair and footstool.

three / Vivid homely colours and prints give character to an otherwise bland bedroom.

four / Mismatched sofa and chairs and an incredible bookstack.

five / Mixing up the old and the new with a record player cosied up beside your computer.

All pictures from Desiretoinspire.

one / Become an expert by focusing your time on one thing.

it could be anything you want as long as it interests you. dazzle people on your knowledge of

- the new catwalk collections, just download the Elle Collections App (or buy the magazine).

- Coffee and the best brewing techniques with Hasbean.

- How to DIY all your fashion needs with I Spy DIY.

- Economics and how they effect our lives with Freakonomics.

two / Read the Man Booker Prize Long list. . . .

Or at least one of them. (Picture from The Guardian.)

Nicola Barker, The Yips 
Ned Beauman, The Teleportation Accident 
André Brink, Philida 
Tan Twan Eng, The Garden of Evening Mists 
Michael Frayn, Skios 
Rachel Joyce, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry 
Hilary Mantel, Bring up the Bodies 
Alison Moore, The Lighthouse 
Will Self, Umbrella (not out until October)
Jeet Thayil, Narcopolis
Sam Thompson, Communion Town

I’d probably go for Skios.

three / Write a list of goals for the next few month.

It can be realistic and crazy in equal measure. Put everything down that you want to do, who knows what could happen!

See my 30 Before 30 List here.

four / Get your paintbrush out and create some inspirational art.

via Design is mine.

five / Rent a film.

Give the high jump a miss for a trip to the Moon.

Watch the creepy An Education and forget about the rowing.

Watch The Towering Inferno and miss the Olympic diving.

Casablanca instead of the Gymnastics.

Swap the Velodrome for High Fidelity

Posters all via A cup of Jo.

Photo via Stephanie Cherry

“The idea for this comes from Deuteronomy 17:18, where God commands the kings of Israel to hand-write their own copy of the Torah, or book of the law. The purpose of this was so that they would carry it with them always, read it, learn from it, and lead the people accordingly. It’s interesting to note that 3400 years later, educators have been discovering that most people learn kinesthetically, by doing or writing things out for themselves.”

The concept of copying out Scripture as I study is really appealing. I wonder how the study question element works and how indepth it goes, but it is interesting.

two/ Our local stomping ground looked amazing the during a summer sunset.

I nearly don’t recognise it in the pictures.

three/ I take my hat off to Cassandra Bankson for taking off her make up for all the world to see. A brave and inspirational video.

four/ Rachel Held Evans created a little directory of her series called “Ask a….”. These are fascinating little interviews between Christian Rachel and a wide range of people starting with “Ask an Atheist” to “Ask a Messianic Jew“.

five/ This practical tote from PamelaFugateDesigns.

two / This recipe from Joy the Baker for Peach cobbler scones.

three /  Sevenly.

A great website which sell clothes. $7 from each purchase each week goes to a hand picked charity. Each week the design and charitable cause changes.

four /  This lovely wallpaper from Lost in a Spotless Mind. Who also just sewed herself a gorgeous pink skirt. Worth a little visit.

five /  A very cute prayer courtesy of a kiddo from High Kirk Church.

Amin.

Here is the wishlist:

one / Hybrid chair from Merve Kahraman.

Awesome – not going to happen, but still awesome.

two / Some Triangular Shelving from Junglai.

three / A Ukelele (preferable a handmade one from I Just might Explode).

four / A print for the wall from Arminho.

five / There is always room for an owl of two from Etsy.

SweetMess

Podooshki : aplusdesignnn : NerdybirdVintage

A Great Banksy Quote from Summerpierre.

two/

These Nike by Liberty Trainers from Office. I am not a trainers fan but I love these.

three/

This Scrabble set.

four/

This pretty colour combination, photo via Slothie.

five/

Some effective and challenging artwork from People of the Second Chance. I think lots of people feel like we are stuck on a low, or feeling a bit blue. Constant gloomy bad news is chasing us around but God has not finished with us.