May the Buddha Be With You.

I’ve never been a religious person. I do not judge what other people believe, but it’s just not something I ever fell into. It never really seemed to make sense to me and no-one ever encouraged or pushed me to have faith in some kind of higher power. It seems now, though, that I’m surrounded by so many different types of people, the question is popping up more and more.

I still answer the same. I don’t have a religion. Although these little trips to the beautiful Korean temples do always give me a funny feeling inside. I cannot commit myself to this ideal considering we had such a strange, and albeit unsatisfactory, temple stay on the mainland which involved monks with pizza hut pizzas, coke and iphones when we were stuck eating rice and kimchi. I can, however, say I am more intrigued about religion than I ever have been before. How it shapes a person. How it can give people strength and hope where others may just give up. How it gives people boundaries and rules….

What do you think?

Maxi Skirt and Top- Uniqlo

Fashion’s a Stranger Flash Sale.

Think I’ve just been sitting around watching America’s Next Top Model and feeling sorry for myself since I let some surgeon drill a few holes in my ankle? Think again. While I did a bit of this, I’ve also been busy sorting out my life.

With the help of my gorgeous and fabulous sister, Molly of Miss Moco, we have put together a huge flash sale to empty my wardrobe a bit before I go off travelling again. It will start on New Year’s Day (Sunday 1st January 2012) at 11am* and run for 24 hours only. Stop by and treat yourself to some vintage and unique clothing at scandalous prices.

Go on, give a gorgeous garment a great new home this festive season and click here from 11am Sunday to be taken to clothing heaven. And please let your friends know! Happy New Year Everyone!

*If you are shopping from somewhere other than the UK, please be aware of the time difference between our beautiful countries to ensure you don’t miss out!

Versatile Blogger of the Year?

Awww yeah. I was nominated by the darling Cakes and Shakes for The Versatile Blogger award. Frankly, my Dear, you rock… thank you! Now, while I don’t do well sharing the limelight, the rules state that I must nominate 10-15 bloggers that I think would deserve the award. Here goes…

Amber of The Girly Bird -  Vanessa of Snappy & Savvy -  Laura of Only Half Dressed – Tracy of The Closet Shopper 

Michelle of Pink.Lemon.In.Crystal – Mitha Komala of Letters to Juliet – Vanessa of Take Only Memories

Jessica of The Midwest Muse – Mongs of My Thrifty Closet – Sherin of HiFashion – Ashley of Two Eyes in the Mirror

Sorry if I forgot you. There are so many fun blogs I read and I’m on a lot of pain killers right now so I may well have neglected a load of you. Take it on the chin.

Anyway, the next task was to write seven facts about myself. Ready? Ready as you’ll ever be.

1) I LOVE football. Or soccer, depending on where in the world you are. I mean LOVE LOVE LOVE. When I was 8 years old I asked my Dad for a Manchester United kit, and he responded ‘We need to have a talk’. For about 10 years after that I was the proud owner of a season ticket for his beloved Aston Villa. I gave it up when I went to University too far to travel but still go to as many games as possible.

2) I am one unlucky sod. For real, when we went to a casino in Korea my friend put on the opposite to me every time because she new I didn’t have a fortune coming my way. She won big. Hell, at one point I even put one on black and one on red on the roulette, just so I could feel less like I’m cursed. That one green bugger won.

3) I am the slowest reader ever. Which didn’t bode well during my degree studying English Language and Literature. Wikipedia kept me in touch though.

4) I love to travel. I have the bug good and proper. I have been all over America, Europe, South Africa and I lived in South Korea for a year teaching English. I get itchy feet easily and don’t know how I’ll fair when I finally realise I have to settle down and get a real job.

5) I worry about absolutely EVERYTHING. Wearing the wrong colour. Hurting people’s feelings. Missing planes. Falling over. Being hurt. Ruining my life with one wrong dress.

6) I have an addictive personality. It’s why I avoid watching new TV programmes or start up new hobbies that I can’t commit to. America’s Next Top Model has been my latest craving and I’ve been watching on average two a day.

7) I talk in my sleep. The last recorded incident involved me sitting up in the night and asking my boyfriend ‘What planet shall we meet on?’

Is that seven? Ace. So there you have it. Bye for now everyone. x

It’s My Birthday And I Can Make A Wish If I Want To.

Hello all. Tomorrow is my 22nd Birthday, as you may already know ’cause I’ve been blabbing on about it all week! I will do a Birthday post, probably on Sunday, as I don’t know what tomorrow has in store for me (but my boyfriend better have planned something good!). I thought I’d do a little Birthday wish list today. I feel super awkward asking for things from people (I genuinely think this might have come from a realization that I acted a bit like a spoiled brat when I was younger… *embarrassed face*), but I am NOT asking for any of these items (really, friends and family!) just letting you beautiful blog readers know what I’m drooling over at the moment!

Nails in Pie in the Sky- £5- Topshop

If you know me, you’ll know that I am soooo lazy, particularly when it comes to removing nail polish! I swear, there was one time recently I had the remnants of a red polish on my tips for over a month. I love this playful blue colour, it’s so cute and quirky. Definitely a winner.

Just My Typewriter Necklace- $29.99- ModCloth

Not sure if it’s my love of all things old fashioned, or my degree in English. Or even my love of slightly ‘tackily’ designed jewelery that turn out to be divine, but man, this necklace is so cute!

Long Studio Dress- £119- Zara

I would quite like the models figure here too. I love maxi dresses, but to be honest I’m a bit too short for them. I can’t wear heels really since I found out I need surgery on my ankle, I have been braving some wedges recently but my ankle always swells up when I do. I love this beige colour and the silhouette is just so elegant. Gorgeous.

A Diana Camera- image found here

I love this simplicity of this camera, to me, it’s exactly how a camera should work. To be honest, I am a total technophobe and cannot even work my little Canon, so the click and go, along with the aged effect that the Diana adds would be just perfect!

YSL Colouring Book- £5.99- Topshop

Maybe it’s because I’m getting a bit older and am resisting it, but we’re going on a trip next week, and I cannot think of anything better to do on the plane than colour in some Yves Saint Laurent illustrations, I’d feel like a designer myself!

Gimme Classic Glamour Shoulder Bag- $49.99- ModCloth

Because, well you know, everyone needs a cute new handbag now and again.

Afternoon Sweets Dress- $149.99- ModCloth

Florals make me feel at home. Florals are where I started when I began my love affair with fashion. I will never leave my florals behind.

So, there you have it. In reality, I know I have received some serious home comforts, which are just as good as any of the items above! A few boxes arrived from friends and family back in England or the States, and on the front they said ‘Candy’ or ‘Crisps’- (or potato chips depending on where you’re from!). I’m so excited to indulge! And my boyfriend slipped out of the apartment to do some ‘last minute shopping’ this morning. That is last minute. Haha. Happy Friday everyone. What do you want for your Birthday?

Put a Ring on it.

Well. I was out for dinner with some friends last week when one of my Korean friends said:  ‘Amy I have a question: are you married? Your facebook says you are married… to a girl…?’ Oops. After explaining the in-depth relationship between me and my ex-housemate and best friend, I think I managed to appropriately convey that it is a joke marriage. But then my other Korean friend turned to me and said: ‘Amy, I have a question: what does ‘xx’ mean when you text me?’ When I said kiss kiss, she looked scared and asked: ‘so you want to kiss me?’ Excellent evening of coming off as a lesbian.

But honestly, it’s really making me miss my beautiful wife and best friends back home in the UK.  So I wanted to give them a little shout out! I’m falling in love with the people I meet here, but sometimes thinking of home calms my manic self.

Use Yourself as a Canvas.

I’ve met so many people recently who are passion-less, so much so that I thank my lucky stars that I find salvation in so many different things.  I believe being passion-less makes for a discontented life- my idea of hell. One song can make me happy for three days, and listening to it is an event in itself rather than a background noise. People who ‘don’t really like music’ will never fully understand this.

One picture can resonate and float in my mind for weeks, allowing my imagination to run away and create hundreds of stories, none of which being what the artist intended.

And I cannot even start to explain how I can lose myself in a book. For myself, I could not live in a world without art. ‘Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life ’; as Oscar Wilde argued in his 1889 essay The Decay of Lying.

I cannot help but wonder where uncreative people get their inspiration from. The smallest thing can inspire me- like my wallpaper in my apartment, that cheers me up every day:

Remember what you love, and let it help lead your way.

The Moomins.

It has come to my attention that those shows you watch when you’re a kid will always be with you… even when you’re in your 20s and far from home. I was shocked when my North American friends did not know the Finnish show ‘The Moomins‘ (not that any of us actually know what they ARE). Nothing gets past Korea though, proved when I purchased my new diary in Downtown Daegu!

Unique Snowflake Syndrome…

Fight Club- I Like Myself…

I suddenly have a complete inability to express myself through writing. I always enjoy describing myself as a writer, but I’m beginning to think all this time I have been a fake and a phony. I can articulate myself perfectly when talking of an abstract concept, a theory I hold, or a complete fiction, but when it comes to real feelings and writing from experience, I have suddenly realised I’m at a constant loss for words. I never wrote about the two times I’ve been in love, or the times I’ve lost myself completely; I always felt it too personal. I’m trying to push my own fears and boundaries now, as only a ‘real’ writer can.

I believe the reason I’m suddenly so stumped is purely because I’m suddenly so inspired- which sounds like a paradox, I know. Starting an entire life on your own on the other side of the world is a daunting experience, there’s no doubting that. But it hasn’t really felt like such a hurdle for me in that respect. That is not to say I am not fearful, but I’m not in Korea to prove my independence and live a ‘dream-life’, in the way many people I have met seem to be. Indeed, I feel as though I’m doing the opposite. While on the surface I seem as though I’m taking it all in my stride, and putting myself out there to the point of no return, I think I’m actually simply trying to escape my previous life. I’m striving to find out more about myself, rather than attempting to prove to the rest of the world how awesome I already I am. While I’ve met some amazing people in Korea, so many of them give off this aura of confidence like they’ve already made it in life- have one up on the rest of those people in their home country- simply because they are surviving solo. Yes, it takes some balls, and I enjoy every single story I hear for it’s own originality, many of which have inspired me no-end, but if there is one thing I cannot stand, it is the know-it-all arrogant idiots.

But I’ve found you can never escape ‘unique snowflake’ syndrome; even in Korea. Those people who have received constant recognition and encouragement in their lives to the point where their eyes glaze over when the topic moves from themselves, even if just for a second. Thankfully, none of those people will have made it this far through this blog entry, as the absence of their favourite subject will have inevitably resulted in them clicking away from my domain through boredom. So for what I don’t have the guts to say to their faces (or cannot even fit in to conversation): ‘You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake.  You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all part of the same compost pile’  ~(Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club, Ch. 17).  Just because you have achieved something great- it does not mean the person standing next to you hasn’t equated that achievement, and it makes you all the less impressive if you are so self-involved as to only know your own good fortunes. I truly believe a person becomes more interesting not because of their Ivy League education, but through striving to know more, to meet more interesting people, to push themselves to the extremes.

It has come to my attention I have totally deferred from my initial point, but I think my writing reflects my disjointed thought processes at the moment, and as my literary inspiration wears thin, I cannot help but philosophize and psycho-analyze all those people I should have a shared point of interest with through the active decision we’ve all made to travel to the other side of the world, but to whom I simply cannot relate.

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good night… 잘가, 안녕!

I have had a long, stressful, difficult, but fun week in the run up to my departure. And now the time has come for me to leave my native town of Warrington for pastures new. I won’t lie- I am now absolutely petrified. I have spent a large amount of my time during the past week scoffing all the food I like and won’t be able to get hold of in South Korea. Many a drink, many a cooked breakfast, many a packet of salt and vinegar crisps, cheese and cracker combo, tears and hugs. And now I’m packed and off down south to fly from Heathrow. It may take me a while to get up and running and blogging in Korea- but don’t give up on me… and wish me luck.

Embarking on life…

Well, I recently turned 21. I also sat my last ever exam of my entire education. I’m in student-graduate limbo, and slightly unsure what to do with my life.
To do:

1) I shall take blogging more seriously, and post at least every other day.
2) I will graduate.
3) I will get my tonsils out.
4) I will see the world.

Sounds like a sturdy and comprehensive life plan to me… Wish me luck!