Lorna Cole

So, it’s safe to say that it’s been a while since I’ve posted on here! The last time I posted I hadn’t even started university and now I’m sitting here, a few weeks into my Second Year.  I moved to Brighton last September and I love it. It was a place I was drawn to for years, so there wasn’t much deliberation once I knew there was a course I liked and so began my journey as a Media Studies student.  I’ve met so many new people in the past year and a bit and it’s probably been the busiest I’ve ever been. There are always things on in Brighton and I’ve definitely made the most of what it offers! Brighton has a crazy amount of pubs and whilst I can’t say I’ve visited them all I’ve definitely found some favourites and look forward to trying our new ones over this next academic year. Just recently my housemates and I went to a pub quiz at one of our local pubs which were great fun! Some of the other things I’ve got up to in the last year include karaoke, mini golf, an escape room,...

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...

I'm not sure if I'll make this a monthly thing but I wanted to reflect on the progress of my goals and habits through January and I've actually got an exciting update!  This year I spent some time to properly think about my goals and plans so thought it would be good to reflect upon them after a month! I think I'm fairly good at being self-aware and acknowledging areas I'd like to improve or change but hopefully this will help me to stick to the goals I set myself.  Let's start with the update then, as I mentioned in my 2021 goals post, I decided to apply to start a new university degree this year. If you want to know a little more about why then you can find that post here . After hearing back from one of the universities within a few days, I couldn't help but check for any updates all the time... I'm not a fan of waiting for things! A couple of months later and I've now received unconditional offers for all 5 courses which I couldn't be happier...

At the beginning of 2021, I started using Notion and I wish I'd done sooner! It's a productivity/planning/organisation tool but can be used to store any information - from study notes to meal plans to finances and lists for pretty much anything you need. There are loads of tutorials on YouTube to help set up your Notion which I definitely used for inspiration, as well as tips and ideas on TikTok, These videos from Unjaded Jade , Twirling Pages , Om & The City helped me particularly! I've also added some quick videos of my Notion pages at the bottom of this post if you want to see what it looks like in use. This post isn't an ad but as you'll see pretty quickly, I'm a fan of Notion so far! App & Quick Notes Notion also has an app that is compatible with iOS 14 - this makes it even easier to access any daily to-do lists or whatever content you want to access quickly. I have a widget that takes me to my Notion homepage, it has links to any of my pages so I...

To say 2020 has been a weird year would be an understatement, in fact, it's been pretty crappy and much worse for many people. I feel lucky to have been able to live with some normality when the world is so chaotic. However, the year seems to have gone ridiculously fast and this blog took a backseat. I definitely had writer's block too and didn't want to blog for the sake of it, however, after being away for a while I've missed it a lot! I enjoyed the social side of blogging as well as sharing bits of my life so am looking forward to getting back into it. I’ve still been posting regularly on my Creative Arts blog as part of my studying which definitely took up a lot of time! It's been a really interesting experience and I’ve learnt a lot. I’m actually making some decisions about my future studies which I’ll share on here at some point but I definitely have a better idea of what I’m really interested in! Obviously doing a course from home is pretty time consuming and...

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...

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...

Yes we are approaching the end of July but I'm taking it back a month and sharing things I enjoyed over June. I took a break from blogging for various reasons but I want to get back on track and hate the thought of missing out a monthly favourites post so here we are!  Creativity  As I've previously mentioned on here, I've been experimenting with typography and calligraphy since it is something I find so intriguing. I've spent a lot of time using my graphics tablet to practice but over June I wanted to try out some more freehand stuff. I do have some brush pens but I've mostly been using some felt tips that I got in  Ikea  a while back, trying to keep it as simple as possible! It can be really frustrating and there are so many other styles I want to try out but it can actually be pretty relaxing if you just spend some time trying things out! TV Now I know there are a lot of mixed opinions about this but yes I have been sucked into the ...

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...

Each and everyone has a different opinion of New Year's resolutions, personally I don't think you should put too much pressure on them, as you can't always achieve them! However I do think setting yourself some sort of goal to help better yourself and to open up new opportunities is a great thing to do! Here are 10 resolutions or goals I have set myself for 2018! Be healthier A fairly common one here and one of the hardest to stick to I'd say! I really want to start being healthier in general, for instance I'm planning to make smoothies as a replacement for breakfast or lunch on some occasions, as well as making sure I drink enough water. One of my biggest downfalls is snacking so that is also something I want to work on! I've recently made a Pinterest board with some ideas for smoothies, you can find it  here ! Start exercising more I definitely want to start being more active again, I used to love sport so this is something I hope to get b...