Knilly Frickers

Rachie's Musings on: All I Know Now, Wonderings And Reflections on Growing Up Gracefully.  Before I start with my thoughts and musings, I'm gonna put it out there - I quite like Carrie Hope Fletcher! Well, I don't know Carrie, but I like the bits of her personality I've seen in her YouTube videos and in her writing.  Carrie and I share a few similarities, we both have naturally curly hair that is prone to doing it's own thing, we both like musicals, we both like to read and we both have a massive place in our hearts for all things Disney. Unfortunately I am neither a West End actress or a published author so that's possibly where our similarities end :-)  If you aren't familiar with Carrie, she's pretty cool! Primarily an actress, currently appearing as Eponine in London's West End production of Les Miserables, Carrie is also a singer, a writer, a YouTuber and honorary big sister to her 500,000 plus subscribers 'The Hopefuls'  Carrie, albeit...

A lot of the things I like doing, like eating out, buying shoes, going to the cinema, going out for the afternoon with friends (which can at times include all of the above) - all cost money, which I unfortunately don't have growing on a tree in the back garden. How cool would that be though? If you could just nip out the back and pick off a note or two when you need some pennies? I digress, moving on.  I've been making a conscious effort over the past little while to try and enjoy some of the things I can do and see for free, not because I can't afford to spend anything but because I don't always have to be spending money on something extravagant or exciting to have a nice day.   Most days, I can happily pass the time at home getting stuck into a book, watching films (three of which today were Disney  - whilst reading a book!) chatting nonsense with my parents or letting my imagination run away into the wilderness while I type nonsense...

All You Have To Be Is You.  It's probably not the best idea to blog when riled up about something but I figured I may as well take the passion and try and turn it into something positive.  There is this notion that a lot of us seem to have, it is communicated to us through popular culture, on the cover of some magazines, on the rails of the occasional shop - and that notion is that we have to aspire to look a certain way in order to be considered attractive, happy, normal or perfect.  Clothing sizes generally mean nothing and I mean nothing. Each shop differs in terms of what sizes they stock but they also differ in what size will actually fit you.  One shop could give you a completely different size from another and more often than not, clothes are made using minimal material thus resulting in you needing a larger size. It's frightening the lengths we can go to in order to change ourselves because we don't feel we measure up to what society deems as acceptable....

Am I a Grown Up? The Ponderings of a Rachie. I'm not really sure at what point you become a proper 'Grown Up' There are many milestones that you could attach it to such as, Reaching a special age like 18 or 21. Learning to cook. Clearing out possessions (toys, teddies, clothes). Getting your first 'proper' job. Passing a driving test or getting a car. Moving out of your parent's house and into your own home, getting a mortgage etc. Surviving the supermarket on a weekly basis. Learning your first important 'Life Lesson' (i.e. experiencing something horrible, heart wrenching or crappy). Falling in love. Losing a sizeable portion of your wages in tax. I haven't done everything on that list yet but I don't think that's why I don't feel like a proper grown up yet. I think I've always had this idea in my head where a grown up has certain traits and is someone who has everything figured out and has all their crap together.  I'm gradually...

I've had an interesting week so far and it's only Wednesday!  On Monday my laptop went a tiny bit funny and decided it needed to be refreshed and seemed to be fine. On Tuesday, I switched it on to find it had been infected with a virus that had encrypted all my files - eek! Thankfully the lovely chaps at the local repair shop have been able to remove the virus but it was bloody scary!  My luck improved on Tuesday afternoon, I won an iPad in a survey my uni sent out to previous graduates (or alumni if I wish to sound a bit posh!) and I went to pick it up today!  I spent 5 minutes outside and inside my old uni posing for photos with my pretty new toy - the closest experience I'll ever have to being a model! Lol  It scares me sometimes how much I rely on my gadgets/technology.  I spend a lot of time on my laptop, whether it's job hunting, filling out applications, blogging, catching up on TV shows....but I also do most of those things on my phone too. If I didn't h...

One Scary Thing Every Day..... I mentioned in a previous post 'Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway' that along with the book recommendation, a very lovely woman named Hilary suggested that I do one scary thing every day as a confidence building exercise. Within reason of course - she wasn't suggesting I go for a bungee jump or a skydive every day, but take a few more risks to bring me out of my comfort zone and out of my shell a little bit more. Also, perhaps the most important - make decisions without panicking! I've been doing this in fits and starts over the past few months. Some of the 'scary' things I've done have been simple, like actually saying no to something I don't want to do and not worrying that the universe will implode because I didn't say yes, ordering something I've never had before at a restaurant, the other week I fried an egg unsupervised (Yes I am a grown woman and 25 years old, but I'm also useless in the kitchen). Other sca...

No One Can Make You Feel Inferior Without Your Consent - Not Even You! I'm great at pulling out this quote when I'm speaking to other people who are feeling a bit insecure or inferior to others. 'No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.' I associate the quote with Eleanor Roosevelt, but The Princess Diaries and Barbie Charm School are also legit sources, albeit quoting the former :-). When it comes to saying it into my own head when I feel insecure or inferior I'm not as certain. Maybe that's because other people don't actually make me feel that way - I make me feel that way. For the most part, my insecurity isn't caused by someone else, it comes from how I feel when I compare myself to them. Take my day out today for example, I went shopping with my friend and while her outfit looked like it had just come off a runway, mine gave off more of a 'well this was clean!' vibe and there were a few moments where I'd look at her and lo...