Category: Lifestyle

Fun Ways to Spend Your Dorm Downtime!

Hey everyone! So I’ve spent quite a bit of time in dorms over the last six months, and have learnt a lot in the process. When you’re studying away from home and living in a dorm, no matter how long the course you’re doing is, it is very easy to get sucked up in getting assignments done, studying and just focusing on work. So when downtime somehow appears, because you’ve miraculously either finished all your work, have nothing to do or nothing urgent to complete, you now have the chance to have some fun. Now living in a dorm can bring some limitations on exactly what type of fun you can have in your down-time, so I’ve compiled this list of fun ways that you can spend your dorm down-time. You can choose one, or all if you have a lot of down-time, and adapt them to suit your personality and what you enjoy doing, but if you find yourself unsure how to spend your gift of free time then look no further. Here are some fun ways that you can spend your dorm down-time.

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How to Deal with Negativity (And Negative People)

Negativity. What a disheartening term, and unfortunately, it is something that is becoming more and more of a problem. There is negativity almost everywhere you look, and a lot of it can come from people who refuse to exist on the bright side. Negativity is particularly dreadful because it is toxic – it is like a disease. It has the ability to ruin what was a great day, and suck you into being negative too. It can also be quite hard to deal with, especially when it is coming from people around you, and once that devilish toxin has taken hold of you, it can often be quite hard to shake it. Now I know this might sound very optimistic (but you’re going to have to deal with it because I have always been the glass-half-full kind of girl), but there are too many things that you can be positive and happy about, if only you learn to think about that rather than all of the other things that are trying to drag you down. There are ways to escape the bite of this evil negativity creature, and so today that is what we are going to discuss. Keep reading to find out more xx

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Embrace Your Geekness!

According to my list of non-official holidays in my diary, today is ‘embrace your geekness’ day, and that’s why Tall Blonde Tales will be celebrating ‘geekness’ in today’s blog post. Now the common thought around being a geek, at least from what I’ve encountered, is that it isn’t a good thing, and the word itself has quite a few negative connotations. The term ‘geek’ used to be a derogatory term to describe circus workers, and from there it was transformed into something of an insult on people. Now the terms nerd and geek are used interchangeably even though they have different meanings. A geek is someone brainy who is good with technology while a nerd is someone with an in-depth knowledge of a particular subject. How I define a geek though, is someone who has a particular affinity or interest in any subject or field. Well, today we are rejecting all negative associations with the term ‘geek’ (as we should generally do, not just today specifically) and celebrating it. Every single one of us is a geek in some way, so don’t feel ashamed of the term. Today, you embrace every aspect of your geekness with open arms!

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How to Have the Perfect Picnic

Picnics are a great recreational activity no matter what time of year it is. The focus of a picnic is food, which is always a good sign, and you can have a solo picnic, a picnic with friends or family or even a picnic date. The options and themes for your picnic are limitless, only tethered to reality by the extent you let your imagination take control. Why I love picnics so much is because they are just such a great activity to do with just about anyone, and you can have them basically wherever you want. The only problem with picnics is that they tend to be a bit finicky in certain regards, and what often happens is they spiral into overcomplicated, stressful events that become a nightmare. By the end of it, everyone wishes they’d just stayed behind and had a pizza. Let me tell you now though, that as much as there are quite a few worst-case scenarios, picnics don’t have to be a metaphorical thorn in your side that you try to avoid at all costs. With the right approach, a picnic can become a relaxing activity that you fall in love with, and that is what I’d like to prove to you today. For those who desperately want to enjoy a picnic, or have tried and the results weren’t quite what you wished, then you’ve come to the right place. Today I would like to share some tested tips and tricks on how to have the perfect picnic – I hope you enjoy!

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Happy Chocolate Day!

Hello everyone and happy almost chocolate day! Today’s blog post is going to be a little different because instead of giving advice or sharing fun and insightful stories, today is all about celebrating the delicious sweet treat that is chocolate. Chocolate is something that I believe everyone loves, in at least one of its many forms. Even for those who can’t eat chocolate because of lactose intolerance reasons, the world has created a solution with the invention of dairy-free chocolate, vegan chocolate and other types of variations. In honour of chocolate day tomorrow, today I would like to share some of the many wonders of chocolate and a few fun facts so if you like chocolate (and I think there shouldn’t be a person out there who says no) then I highly suggest you get comfortable, grab a chocolatey snack and keep reading.

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10 Reasons Why Amusement Parks Are Awesome!

There are so many fantastic ways to spend a holiday day or week, no matter where you are in the world. Each place offers unique activities, but something that most locations have in common is an amusement park. One of the best ways to spend a vacation day (or week) is to visit an amusement park, and there are hundreds of reasons why. There are the rides, the food, and what some people fail to realise is that amusement parks can be great fun even if you aren’t a kid anymore. If you are looking for an excuse to go to an amusement park, or can’t think why going to one would be a fantastic experience, then you have come to the right place. As a theme park lover and roller coaster addict, here are ten reasons why amusement parks are fantastic!

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Why Asian Food is Just the Best!

There are so many different types of distinctive cuisines all over the world, all of them as delicious and glorious as each other. When you have to sit down and think about it, how can you possibly pick one favourite out of all of the potential contenders? Well, if you had to ask me what my favourite cuisine would be, I would say that it is hands down Asian food. No questions asked. Now, please don’t take this as any form of bias – I don’t have any Asian ancestry (well any that I know of at least) and I have unfortunately never been to Asia. My love of Asian cuisine over others like Italian or Mediterranean comes from many reasons. If you are also an Asian food fan, I think you will understand why, but if you are not entirely convinced yet why Asian food is the best, allow me to enumerate. Here are ten reasons why Asian food is just the absolute best, and I hope that these reasons convert you into a fellow-lover like me.

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Adulting 101: Important Skills for After High School

Being a grown up. Acting like an adult. Growing up in general. All of these things that people say we must do once we leave high school to be adults in the real world. The only problem with this is that being an adult usually doesn’t sound like a lot of fun. Being an adult supposedly means doing annoying things like taxes and not having time to do what you love, but that isn’t usually the case. Being an adult, at least how I define it, is being able to look after yourself. It means that you can live independently without worrying that things will fall to pieces and doing that isn’t too much hard work. Doing that just involves learning a few skills that can help you be an adult while still maintaining all the fun-loving things that you did when you didn’t have to worry about things like budgets and dishes. The best time to learn all of this is just before you leave high school because once you leave high school and go to university or start your own life, you begin transitioning into adulthood. The skills I have mentioned below are supposedly adult skills, yet they are essential and useful and will help you live independently once you finish high school. If you are looking for skills that will help you in life, or are nervous about leaving the comfort of home after high school, then look no further.

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How to Handle a Breakup

No one ever likes to think that their relationship will come to an end because, let’s face it, no one likes going through a breakup. However, as much as we all love to hope that all of our relationships are bulletproof and nothing can shake them, sometimes a break up is inevitable. Getting over a break up can often be one of the toughest experiences we go through, especially depending on the circumstances and reasons why the break up happened. Now, I know that if you are going through a breakup, saying that “the sun will come up tomorrow” is not exactly what you want to hear. What I can tell you though, having experienced one or two breakups myself, is that as hard as it is there are ways to handle it and keep yourself together. Today I’m collaborating with a close friend of mine to write this blog post (her words indicated by the quotation marks), and we will be discussing how you can handle a breakup. We both know what a terrible experience it can be, but having both lived through it, we know that it is possible to get through it and handle it without falling apart. We’ll be sharing those tips with you today. I hope you enjoy it!

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Practical Advice for Short Courses

What a lot of you might not know is that I am currently taking a gap year, having graduated high school at the end of 2018, and am filling my gap year with short courses — kind of to help me figure out what I’d like to study and do in the future. I recently came home from a short course at Oxford University in England and am about to leave for another short course at Stanford University in the USA. I am currently preparing for my Stanford trip, and I kept thinking back to all the practical things I had learnt while on my Oxford short course and I felt that this was something that someone else might need. After all, no instructions were lying around about how to handle a short course and so, for all of you who might need this advice in the future, or those who are considering signing up for a short course, I’d say go for it! Just make sure that you read some of this advice beforehand because I wish I’d had this before I left. At least I now have it for round two. So if a short course sounds like it would be in your future, I’d highly recommend just taking a quick skim read of this before you embark on your journey xx

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