welcome november

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I honestly don't know where 2013 has gone. I remember writing post christmas blog posts back in January and now we are nearly at the festive period once again. 

SO much has happened this year. There have been numerous trips home to London for happy and not so happy reasons. There has been solo living, another sweaty summer, lazy weekends at the pool, a luxury villa, goodbyes and countdowns. 

It will be 2014 before we know it. 

Motivation!

Rush hour, in Nicosia, in August. The only photograph I could use to demonstrate my point.

I am pretty organised. 

I make lists. 

I make more lists. 

I have see through plastic envelopes for documents; house and bills, health and personal.

I am generally a proactive person.

I am motivated. 

I am still finding out about the challenges of living alone, and mostly they are involving that last one...motivation. When your alone, there is no one there to kick you out of bed to make the coffee, or bounce ideas off of for the blog. The motivation to even put washing on all but flies out the window some days because it's just me and why bother. I can wear something else and it can wait. 

I have never had this feeling before. And it's a little unsettling because it is so not in my character to be like this. I would never spend all morning in bed and now I spend the best part of the day (although I also blame the August heat for that one - I want air con and nothing but air con). 

It is strange for me that I am still finding out things about my personality; I have always been so independent but I am slowly realising that independence thrives on relationships. Having strong relationships makes me feel a little more secure in myself and more secure in my situation. The support of these relationships makes me realise, that I can live on my own, in a different country and despite some shaky days, survive. 

celebrate the little things

I'm not usually lost for words.
I like to talk.
I'mm quite loud also.
But today, all my words have gone out the window.

It is so easy in life to overlook the little things.
The everyday things that are always there. That all of us, without exception, whatever it may be, take for granted. And the sad part is that it takes a reality check to make you see a little bit clearer.

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guest blogger // Lisa from getagoodguy.com

Holiday romances are not something I know much about. Love and life started off with the boy in London and then transplanted us here in Nicosia. But it was not a holiday romance. Many expats may have found themselves as expats thanks to a holiday romance; these are the success stories. The magical stories of love across oceans that lasted. But i'm sure amongst the dream endings there are some nightmares too. 

Here, guest blogger Lisa from getagoodguy.com explores if holiday romances can last the distance?

Going on a holiday opens up a whole new world for you, literally and figuratively. Apart from enjoying the sights, activities and sounds of a place you’ve never gone to before, spending a week or two in a beautiful spot on the planet also offers the possibility of meeting a person who could give your vacation a romantic spin that you would never have expected. Holiday romances are but normal for people who go on vacations. With the relaxed atmosphere and beauty of the place you both find yourselves in, being into each other and taking advantage of the opportunity becomes so much easier. In most cases, holiday romances are quite perfect and make you really happy.

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However, holiday romances are also typically short-lived. Unless the person you had a fling with on holiday lives in the same area code as yours, the chances that you will ever see each other again are practically nil. Still, holiday romances don’t have to be as short as they are if you don’t want things to be that way. If you feel like your holiday romance deserves more than just a few days of life, there are several things you can do to make it last a bit longer.

One of the things you can do is to keep your lines of communication open long after you’ve parted ways. If you both agree to keep things going between the two of you, then exchange emails, calls, texts, Facebook or Skype messages on a regular basis. You are, after all, in a long-distance relationship, and the things mentioned above are what people in such a relationship do. Always stay in contact if you want what you have to last.

It would also be great if you actually make plans to see each other periodically. If you have the time and the resources, this should not really be a problem. You can choose to meet on another holiday, or you can actually visit each other’s cities. Many long distance relationships actually work this way, with a number of them really succeeding, if the fact that they ended up getting married is any indication.

A major ingredient of any long-distance relationship is trust. If you both have decided to be in an exclusive relationship with each other, then don’t go out with anyone else. Of course, the combination of loneliness and distance can make dating someone else who is close by tempting, but it is a fact that many long distance relationships have withstood the test of time because the people involved actually trusted each other.

In any case, keep in mind that keeping that holiday romance going is far from being easy. There is a lot of hard work involved. If you’re in this kind of relationship, always be ready for the possibility of having to let go. Clinging on to a holiday romance even when things are no longer working out can only make the both of you unhappy.

About the author: Lisa Jones is the Editor of the blog getagoodguy.com (http://getagoodguy.com), offering frequently updated dating advice for women. (http://getagoodguy.com/internet-dating-advice-for-women/)

where's the silver lining?

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I completed the third year of my degree in May of this year, and as soon as that dissertation hit the hands of my tutor, perfectly printed and bound, a shiver of excitement and relief washed over me. However the graduating class of 2009, of which I am one, are struggling to see the silver lining through the big black cloud that’s hanging over Britain, otherwise known as the recession.

Figures, such as those the Guardian reported in June 2009, declaring that 40,000 of the fresh faced graduates ready for the big wide world would be joining the queue at their local job centre, did somewhat dampen the celebrations of the class of 2009.

I graduated on the 6^th November 2009 in a rather formal (something that many at my university would say is uncharacteristic of our reputation) ceremony in which the purpose was to celebrate our achievements. Or so I thought. Whilst I sat feeling terribly proud as I watched my friends do the walk from on side of the stage to the other, it dawned on me that we were the figures the Guardian had been talking about.

Up until that point it had gone unsaid. The last month of June, a sunny month thank god, had been spent by most of my friends (who were all studying media, communication and fashion related courses so exams were not heard of) enjoying the sunshine on roof terraces, the rest of the student loan, and documenting memories for the future, because soon enough, June ended, so did our tenancy’s and as suddenly as we were all thrown together we were ripped apart.

At that point reality kicked in. The bubble burst and pretty much everyone suffered some sort of university depression, or black hole experience. Education was officially over, but here is where the hard work began. Trying to bluff your way into a job in media, fashion or journalism is pretty hard. You would have thought the degree part would help a little but actually It seems not. I could have spent my three years of university time and money, investing in internships and probably be in a better position. But would I have the sufficient background knowledge and understanding to succeed in the world. Possibly not.

Checking the university website on results day to find that I had come away with a 2:1 BA (Hons) in Writing Fashion and Culture was a bittersweet experience. Ultimately I was chuffed that all the hard work had paid off, and although I hadn’t achieved the first I wanted, it was a strange sense of achievement. University, I think is the first time in your educational life that you really stand on your own two feet, therefore the outcome is really an individual achievement. But given that it was two months since I had left university and at 12pm on a Tuesday I was sitting watching the lunchtime news desperately searching for a job while the newsreader yet again droned on about unemployment, it was slightly depressing.

My degree had set me up to do a variety of things. Writing was the backbone of my degree, while photography, styling and a lot of interesting but very confusing and sometimes scary classes on Photoshop, magazine layout and online media formed the rest.

But this world that I emerged into was very different than the one I had entered university during. The emphasis on multimedia resources had accelerated and the importance of fashion increased. The use of social media had rocketed and the popularity of blogging had created whole new avenues in which people could explore pretty much anything. And write. And fashion was thriving upon this social boom.

I recently read an article on the Guardian website by Hadley Freeman; she was giving her advice in response to a question. “What’s the best way to get a job in fashion journalism?” I recommend it to you. 

When I started my degree in September 2006 I wasn't sure what I wanted to be doing three years down the line. And now im done, I still don't know. What I do know  is that im intrigued, almost fascinated by fashion. I'm mesmerised by the arguments, explanations and theories proposed for its existence, its influence and its purpose. I know I want to write. 

I just wish there weren't so many people following the same yellow brick road as me.