I honestly can't believe it's been almost a month since I last blogged - I well and truly fell off the blogosphere, didn't I?
Life is moving pretty fast at the moment. It's quite scary and kind of sad, in a way. There have been lots of stressful times, but that's only made the chilled parts seem all the more wonderful... But there hasn't been enough time to sit and absorb these *moments* (if that makes any sense at all!)
I'm know I'm not the only one who adores the summer, but I really do bloody love it. When the sun's out I feel a lot more free and willing to get out and savour the weather. Lighter, longer days are a blessing, especially when you're in full-time work - there's nothing quite like spending a well-deserved Friday evening in a pub garden with friends, drinking pimms and enjoying the balmy weather. Nothing seems as rushed and everything seems a little easier.
There have been some big changes in my life, this month. Last week marked the end of my time at The Body Shop, where I'd worked for nearly a year in the UK PR team. It was my first proper, lengthy insight into the world of PR, and although I often found myself in difficult, overwhelming situations (99.9% of the time because of my mistakes, admittedly), I was so sad to leave all the amazing people I met and consider really good friends of mine. It was only today that it struck me just how much time you spend with your work colleagues - more time than anyone else - and how important they are in shaping your experience of work. The great thing about TBS is that even though my colleagues were all in different teams, we were always there to help each other out.
I went home for Father's Day the following day, which was definitely needed. I went sailing for the first time and even though I spent most of the time screaming "It's going to capsize!" and "Am I meant to be Port or Starboard?!", it was a good laugh, and pushed me out of my comfort zone.
I find that now that I live closer to home, I go home a fair bit. It's not because I don't like London as much as York (when I studied in York I'd only go home every few months) but I find that in London you can easily lose your head, and it's often difficult to stay grounded. I'm constantly surrounded by excess, luxury, and things I want, but can't afford. When you're here, you feel like you can have them, should have them, because everyone else seems to be living a (reasonably) lavish life. I don't know - it was easier to be sensible in York because I wasn't surrounded by possibilities and temptations, whereas here it's easy to trick yourself that you belong in a world that isn't sustainable on a modest salary. Getting out of the city gives my head a more-than-welcome break.
But back to reality. Today was my first day of my new (permanent) role at a PR agency. It hasn't really sunk in that this is my life now - that as long as I don't really screw up and I pass my probation - that I'm in a role where I can learn and progress and become involved. It's amazing! When I woke up today I wasn't even nervous because I had no idea what to expect, so didn't know what to be nervous about... After my first day I can tell that I have lots and lots to learn, but so far everyone has been lovely, smiley and welcoming, and I'm pretty happy.
And once I'm settled with my job, in a few weeks I'm moving from my beloved West Hampstead to - gasp - south of the river. As much as I adore where I live, and hope to end up somewhere as nice as NW6 in the future, my money doesn't stretch far enough for what I want. The house (yes, I'm moving from a flat to a HOUSE) will be newly refurbished and I have a balcony (my mother is already trying to convince me to buy tomato plants and the like for it... It's not even that big) and I'm really quite excited to have a view out of my window that isn't the local esso garage.
So... That's me! For those who are interested, here are a few awful quality photos that capture my life over the last month.
Loving life at Kensington Roof Gardens
Pancakes at Sofra, St Christopher's Place
I just really liked this poem.
Goodbye card from my Director, hand-made by his wife.
Leaving drinks!
Lunch in the sun with some of my beautiful (ex) colleagues (sob!)
Leaving gifts. Very excited to put my a Selfridges voucher to good use!
Hangover brunch. Will I ever choose something except Eggs Royale? To be continued...
Happy to be alive (and relatively dry) after sailing.
Until next time :)
For more (if rather inane) updates on my life, follow me on twitter @sofie
