Before you read this letter, I know there are some people who are going to LOVE what they are about to read and not even in a nice way. You're in my past for a reason and you are welcome to take whatever joy you want from this but I am in so much of a better place than I have been in years, and with that enjoy this letter.

Dear Adele,

I’ll be honest from the beginning, this is hard for me to write. 

To put it remotely nicely, grow a pair. Seriously grow up, stop stressing out all the time because you are missing out on sleep which is why you are crying all the time.

Get your priorities right too. Drowning your sorrows, which aren’t all that bad, is not a good idea, and change your University course for goodness sake, Maths is hard and you are so much better at business.

You most definitely do not need a guy to make you happy. You know that one you think is so great? He’s a prick, always has been and always will be, no matter what anyone says. Forget about him now because he is so not worth your tears.

Oh and all that comfort eating, it is so not worth the pain in the end. It causes you way too many problems. You eat shit and feel like it too.

All else I have to say is that it can only get better from here.

See you in a few years,

21 year old Adele

T is for... Travelling

This is something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time but there is always something in the way that I need to prioritise more.

It’s a shame because the list of places I want to go is ever growing. But you’ve got to dream big!

Here is a list of a few places I want to go:

Ireland

Paris

Rio de Janeiro

India

Japan

Australia

Iceland

Dubai

Do you have any tips for travelling on a budget or just in general?

A Day in the Life of Me!

Day 10: A Day in the Life

My typical day starts really early at the moment, most likely at half 4 to 5. It’s completely crazy but I don’t mind all that much… I get to do things I love the most when I get into work at 6am and still get to do customer service when the store opens, it’s the best of both worlds!

So typically (my ideal scenario too…) I would be ready and at work at 6am, and I would start my shift by tweaking the windows or displays around the shop to make sure that it is up to date. Over the Christmas period this happens nearly every shift as some stuff sells out or we have a lot of certain products.

Other things I may do is replen of stock, moving stock to different positions around the shop or helping out with admin. The first 3 hours goes so quickly and before we know it, the shop is being opened!

Then it’s purely customer service and selling to the customer, it’s pretty great to be honest. It’s made even better by working with an awesome team! Time flies when you’re having fun right? Because this is completely the case for me, an hour can go by in what feels like a matter of minutes.

So 8 hours later, I go home completely exhausted, catch up on TV, eat dinner and then it’s a super early night for me ready for the next day.

Sure it doesn’t sound like the most exciting day but I wouldn’t want it any other way and I definitely wouldn’t want to be sat in an office all day.

J… is for Jobs

I can remember the summer after I turned 16 being driven around my hometown and me handing in my CV’s to anywhere I could. From this moment on I have always had a job, except during term time at university.

You probably think that this is a really strange thing about me but I know that if I hadn’t been in the jobs I have then I wouldn’t have had any experience or the passion for customer service that I do.

As you may or may not know, I had a number of interviews a few weeks ago and until then I didn’t realise how much I loved having a job and the sense of pride I get from earning my own money.

The absolute relief I had when I got the phone call saying that I got the job is a feeling that I cannot begin to describe.

After only a couple of days I have seen a complete lift in my mood and I am so determined not to let anyone ruin that. You hear that? No one will ruin my mood.

This is just a part of my living in the moment and that my life is happening right now!

Life: the ‘reality vs. expectations’

Since I was about 15 or 16 I have had expectations of how my life would pan out, at the time I called it my 10 year plan. I always thought I would have graduated university by now, in some kind of accounting job and living in London. In 5 years time (by the time I’m 26) I wanted to have a husband and my first child.

I know, it’s completely crazy. I do realise now that these expectations are far from my reality. For a start I’m still in uni and I know that I don’t want a job in accounting. Of course, I would love to live in central London but with the rent prices crazy high and way out of my budget, it’s a good job I’m happy in Kingston!

When it comes to a husband and children, I’ve previously said that this is something that I will let happen on it’s own. I can’t expect something so big to happen when I’m not sure what the future holds yet!

Something that I’m learning more and more everyday is that I cannot look far into the future and expect so much to happen. So I am seeing the reality of certain things, and I am living in the present and focusing on what is important right now.

Sure you may think this is ridiculous but for me it is right and the way that I manage to keep myself motivated and keep going. Don’t get me wrong I am planning lots of adventures over the next few months and I finally get to start my travelling adventure! I also get to cross quite a few things off of my bucket list.

For me, this is how I’ve decided to live my life for the meantime, I get to do things that I really want to do and I’ve planned a few more things that I want to do should I get back into university (that’s a whole other story). Now that I’ve really found my creative side I want to take full advantage of it and use it to its full potential! I mean why not? I’ve finally found something that I really enjoy that I can do everyday for fun!

My point is, that at 21 I have realised that my expectations do not always fit into reality, which is absolutely fine by me! Life wouldn’t be any fun if we knew how it was going to end, right?

What are your expectations of life?

Review. £5 off of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables at Tescos.

Almost a year ago I received an email from Tescos to sign up to a new site they were developing called Orchard. Now on this website you fill out a number of surveys so that they understand your habits and preferences. Then every so often you get “invited” to programmes where you are sent vouchers to try new products that Tesco have launched.

The most recent programme I signed up to take part in was one where I got £5 off of any fruit and vegetables that I ordered with a Tesco delivery. Perfect timing as I needed to stock up at uni!

I got a whole range of vegetables, as you can see from the photos I went all out!

Back to the point of the programme and my review. The aim of the programme was to see what the freshness was like of the products delivered. I must say it was really good! The products were definitely better than if I had picked them myself. The dates were all the best you could have found in store.

Would I recommend Tescos to you?

Well I personally have never had a bad experience with Tescos. The reason I always shop there is because I get club card points and vouchers. Not only that, obviously it is an added bonus, the range of products they do is great, they are always keeping up to date with their brands and doing their own version of the products as well.

Yes, I would definitely recommend shopping there. People can judge so quickly but it’s really quite good!

You may ask why I bought so much, I couldn’t possibly eat it all before it goes out of date. Well you’re right, I always get vegetables that I can freeze, so I chop it all up and divide it into plastic bags and put it in the freezer.

That way I can choose which vegetable I want with my dinner or if I want to put extra vegetables in a chilli con carne or bolognaise sauce then they are already in the freezer ready for me to use.

The cute patterned bags are from IKEA!